Conscription of Fate
by Shadow0Fire
Summary: Some are called to serve their people. And yet others have a higher purpose; to be saviors, angels of hope, and rescuers of distraught worlds. Archangel, elite sharpshooter for the Legion, didn't think of himself as one of those people. But whether he knew it or not, he had a greater destiny to fulfill in life: saving a world not his own, where both love and strife awaited him.
1. Once More Unto the Breach

**I have decided that the first chapter, being the most important, as it draws readers into a story, was inadequate in serving its purpose. And so, I, Shadow0Fire, have completely rewritten it to be more intriguing. And when you're done reading it, I would like to know if those of you who have read the old chapter prefer this one or that one. Thank you in advance if you do, and if you don't, well, I won't be surprised.**

**Also please note that I do not intend any racism or prejudice against any people or religion. I am not attacking anyone nor am I trying to criticize any way of thinking. Normally I wouldn't have to say that, but I just wanted to clarify that I intended no slander against anyone in this chapter; I would be sincerely guilty if I offended anybody.  
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**ONE MORE THING! I got a review a little while ago about how a reader wouldn't continue this story past the first chapter because it was too dark and serious. For all of you new readers, this is NOT TRUE! This first chapter is dark, yes, but it grows more lighthearted and humorous right into chapter 2! So don't give up on this fic just because the first chapter is the way it is!  
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><p>Archangel peered down into the depths of the freezing Atlantic Ocean, now a mass of radioactive sludge, safe from its fury as he rode through the night in a Black-hawk chopper. He was not fond of the sea. It was a force of nature that could not be controlled, and he valued, as well as feared, control more than the average man. If he could not control something, he either had to protect it, or destroy it, and it was usually the latter that came to pass.<p>

Some would say he was a strange man, being obsessed with control. But life had not been kind to him, nor had it to most of the world. Many uncontrollable things had happened in the past few decades. The World Trade Center, the death of his parents, uncountable natural disasters, NOVA... the list was endless.

It was a combination of the first two of those things that had changed him. When the terrorist attack had hit the World Trade Center, both of Archangel's parents had been taken from him in an instant, violently torn from this world by an unjust god. He had been seven years old at that time. It was devastating, to lose your parents at such an age, where you already knew them so well. If he had been younger, young enough that the memory of his parents would fade after he matured, he would have been better off. But no, he had been seven, and the people in this world he both loved and depended on more than anyone else had been removed from his life, killed by fanatical terrorists who had killed them in the name of their god, as if that justified the mass murder they committed.

From that day onward, after receiving the news of his fallen loved ones, he changed, some would say for better, and others for worse. The instrument of that change was hate. He hated them, the ones who had killed his family, and for a whole year he directed his hate towards those people. If not for his younger cousin, who had come to live with him after his parent's deaths, he probably would have continued that way, only to become a bitter and hateful avenger, wrongfully slaying those who followed Islam merely for sharing the faith of those who had scarred him.

His cousin, and soon-to-be adopted little sister, had brought him to the truth; it was not Islam that had harmed him; it was not any specific race, religion, or creed; it was simply a group of people who felt the need to cause destruction and death among the innocent, for whatever demented reason they deemed fit. There were plenty of others who did the same; Americans, Germans, Australians; every country, every religion, and every creed had such people; terrorists. And so Archangel redirected his hate to those that sought to willingly harm his friends, family, or countrymen; no matter where they came from or what they believed in, they were his enemies, and he swore to himself that he would mercilessly destroy each and every one of them.

That was only one-side of his coin, however, although it was the one most people who knew him were accustomed to seeing. Yes, he had a goal, fueled by anger, hate, and justice, but it did not consume his entire being. He had a life outside of tracking terrorist cells and killing the enemies of humanity. He had friends, he had a sister, his family, and he had the community he belonged to; all who knew him as a kind and gentle man.

He was like the sky almost, sometimes calm and serene and other times a raging tempest. Sometimes an angel of love and other times an angel of death. A hunter who sometimes granted life and sometimes took it away. That was his persona, his inner self; that was the fabric of his being.

Archangel dwelt on these thoughts as the chopper he rode in drew ever closer to its destination; Greenland. A relatively new terrorist cell had been discovered along the coast of the ironic country, developing EMP weapons to use against New Eden. The Legion had dispatched Onyx Squad; Archangel, Cossack, Shellcase, and Scorch; to stamp out the threat before they grew larger and more dangerous. After all, New Eden was where the last vestiges of humanity resided. If something happened to it, the survivors of NOVA would be forced to return to the poisoned ground below that now constituted the majority of the Earth. New Eden was the only place with clean water and clean air; not to mention safety from the heavy radiation that covered the planet's surface.

Therefore, threats to the new utopia were absolutely unacceptable. All enemies of the floating metropolis had to be eliminated, lest they cause the destruction of what was left of mankind. And so the Legion, which was pretty much the new world military, were dispatching their top squad to destroy their enemies. That was the primary objective, but the secondary one was to discover how the terrorists were surviving in their irradiated environment. If they could do it, then it was possible for others to do so as well, and New Eden and The Legion wanted to know how it was done.

The voice of the aircraft's pilot interrupted Archangel's train of thought. "ETA until we reach the drop zone, two minutes! Our seismic scopes are picking up a NOVA flare too; about four hours until it hits the surface, right around the mission zone. That's just a rough estimate though; you'd better be inside that base before it hits!"

Cossack, the squad leader, nodded his confirmation to the pilot, despite that the airman was not looking in his direction. The grizzled old Russian man was a reliable leader, and he had led Onyx Squad through many tough situations. He was gradually losing his edge though; the forty-seven year old man, no matter how strong he was, was susceptible to the weakness of age. It was likely that Cossack would receive a desk job soon, and Shellcase would take his place as squad leader.

Speaking of which, Archangel wondered how his little sister would take such a promotion. Although she was technically second-in-command, she didn't really look forward to the idea of taking charge of such a prestigious squad. Not that she didn't have confidence in her abilities, but the pressure of performing well on the battlefield weighed more on her than it did to others like Archangel and Scorch. Still, Archangel knew she would make a great leader, whether she knew it or not.

The last member of Onyx was Scorch; an Irish man that was relatively new to The Legion. His specialty was explosives, and he went all out when he rigged something to blow. His only other specialty was wasting more ammo than was necessary in a spray-and-pray fashion.

And of course, there was himself; Archangel, both the Guardian Angel as well as the Angel of Death, depending on who spoke of him. His marksmanship was nearly unmatched; only a handful people had skills that were close to his. Every shot he fired marked death for another enemy. Very rarely did he ever miss; and if he did, he readjusted quickly enough to slay his target before they even realized that a bullet had whizzed past their fragile skulls. Only once had he failed to do such a thing. Only once...

"Jake!"

Archangel looked up at the helmeted, slim figure of his little sister. After all, only she ever called him by that name. "Yes?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder before responding. "Is something wrong? You seem a little... off."

He shrugged. "Just a little nervous, I guess. After the last time..."

His sister pulled off her helmet before crouching down and wrapping her arms around her adopted older brother. Her long, waist length silver hair framed her emerald eyes as she stared into his visor, no doubt seeing her own reflection. Archangel remembered when that flowing hair had been dark brown, before the wave of radiation that had bathed Berlin and most of Europe in sickness and mutation. Such a thing did not affect her beauty in the slightest however; now it was just less natural and more exotic.

She smiled at him lovingly, as only a true sister could. "I thought you said you were over that. You promised me you wouldn't let it bother you anymore. I've told you before that it wasn't your fault. So stop being so mopey all of the time, 'kay?"

Archangel nodded and returned the hug she was giving him. Truly, no one knew how to comfort him better than she. "OK, Mission. Stop worrying so much, your big brother is fine. Although the worried little sister look is pretty cute."

She stuck her tongue out at him as she returned her helmet to its proper place; covering her head. She shrugged and grabbed her rifle from the rack on the ceiling of the chopper, kicking Archangel in the side as she did so. He often made fun of her for the way she acted, and she was a little sensitive about it.

Cossack tapped the two siblings on the shoulder. "Twenty seconds! Get ready to deploy!"

The two of them nodded and quickly double-checked all of their gear. After doing so, the brother and sister grabbed each other's hand and looked into the reflective visor of the helmets they wore; they would be separated for the majority of this operation.

"Be careful, Jake. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Archangel nodded. "How can I? You're taking all of the stupid with you."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Jerk."

He flicked the front of her helmet in return. "Punk."

The two of them hugged one more time before separating, each of them hopping off an opposite side of their chopper, and moving towards the designated areas that they needed to be. Between worrying about her and worrying about the enemy, it was going to be a long night for Archangel.

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><p>Sliding yet another round into the chamber of his Aurora-C sniper rifle, Archangel settled his custom cross-hairs over the head of yet another of the facility's heavily-armored guards, for the fifth time in the last hour and a half. These terrorists sure were well equipped; Body armor, gas masks, M16's and frag grenades, and even detox packs and defibrillators. Those last two items were hard to get your hands on unless you had access to the military resources back on New Eden. He wondered if these targets were ex-military types.<p>

He slowed his breathing so he could get a stable shot at the tiny slit that served the purpose of an eye socket in the gas mask his target wore. The armor they had on made them like Stormtroopers. Heavily armored, and only vulnerable in certain places, like the eyes he was aiming for...

A silenced _phewt _could barely be heard as the target's head snapped backwards and the man crumpled to the ground. Archangel didn't bother loading another round; that guard had been the last of the five he had been hunting over the last ninety minutes. He had been very careful in making sure none of the guards saw one of their buddies being killed. Their patrol paths had been well coordinated, in a fashion were one of the guards almost always had view of one of his teammates. Still, if that was the case, how had they not noticed when their comrades failed to come back from the end of their patrol route? The guards had been very foolish, not checking in on their allies when they couldn't see them when they were supposed to. Such behavior made Archangel believe that the guards themselves had been untrained mercs or militia, and their gear and patrol routes had been planned by someone else.

This was how Archangel saw things on the battlefield. Everything was a problem that had to be analyzed, and the correct answer given to solve it. Sometimes it was multiple choice, and the problem had many solutions, but only one good one. And sometimes it was fill-in-the blank, and Archangel had to come up with a solution himself. It used to not be so; Archangel had once let emotion rule over his decisions, but after his first and last failure... he had learned that emotion only led to mistakes. Since then, his actions on the field were always dictated by reason, logic, and facts. And since then, he had made no mistakes.

The angel of death wondered how his teammates inside the facility were doing. They were all elite soldiers, well trained and efficient. But Archangel had a problem with trusting comrades who were out of his sight. He felt that his team was safest when he was around to guard them. This notion was also amplified because his little sister was part of that team. Protecting her was natural, even if she could take care of herself.

He was about to return to the activity of scanning the compound for threats, when a massive earthquake shook the cliff side. The shock-wave lasted for nearly ten seconds before subsiding. Archangel quickly wracked his brain for possible explanations. One, an earthquake had actually occurred; which is highly unlikely in Greenland. Two, there had been an explosion in the facility below him, which was easily possible. And three, as well as the most dreadful... the predicted NOVA flare was much closer than had been expected.

Archangel checked the Geiger counter in his HUD, praying to God it wouldn't start clicking. Many seconds passed and the instrument showed no signs of activity... he breathed a sigh of relief. If the flare had been closer, he didn't even want to think about-

A deep rumbling interrupted his thoughts, followed by a rapid clicking by his Geiger counter. The rumbling did not desist after a few moments, and neither did the irritating noise from his G-counter. Realizing the threat, Archangel scrambled to his feet and began to hook his rappelling gear onto the cliff-side, the two continuous noises combining to remind him of approaching doom.

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! _

Nothing else ran through Archangel's mind as he finished hooking up his gear and proceeded to hop down the cliff towards the terrorist base below. The unremitting rumbling of the earth made his passage difficult, and he slipped several times on the way down, distracted by his Geiger counter and his own fear.

As he reached the ground, he subconsciously noticed that the rumbling had increased in magnitude. The whole Earth seemed to shift below his feet as he bolted for the facility that would save him from a terrible death. He reached the only entrance he could see on this side of the building, only to realize that the sliding door was locked. He checked around the door for some sort of switch to open it with, but he found none. Panicking and distracted by the Geiger counter that's clicking was so rapid he couldn't discern the individual clicks, Archangel couldn't think of a way out of this. He had mere seconds before a massive wave of heat and radiation washed over him and melted the flesh from his bones.

As that horrible reality entered his mind, he could do nothing except punch the steel door in front of him, that oh so mockingly kept him from salvation.

Just as he was about to give in to despair and accept his gruesome fate, the door in front of him slid open, and an armored gauntlet yanked Archangel into the safety of the facility, the steel door sliding shut behind him just in time; the sniper could hear the roar of the NOVA flare as it bathed the outside of the facility in destructive fire. Archangel could only imagine the horrifying effect it was having on the bodies he had left out there.

He turned to look at the face of his savior, only to be met with the barrel of an AA-12, and a gas mask worn by a hostile soldier. Archangel didn't care about this turn of events; anything was better than roasting outside.

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><p>Options, options, options, Archangel had many options right now. Any one of them would solve his problem, but only one was the best choice. This was a multiple choice problem; how to escape his captor and continue the mission.<p>

Choice A. He could wait for his team to complete their objective and then come and rescue him.

Choice B. He could engage his captor in hand-to-hand combat, kill him, and then proceed with the objective.

Or choice C. He could simply go with the flow and hope for the best.

C was out of the question. And as a man of action and not waiting, A wasn't his best option either. It would seem that the sniper would go with choice B, despite a few physical limitations that could harm his chances of success. Archangel factored all of the ingredients of a successful melee; the element of surprise, the readiness of his captor, the position his enemy currently held his gun in, and even which foot his opponent currently had forward.

Taking everything into consideration, Archangel gave himself about a 78% chance of survival in the next maneuver. That seemed like good enough odds to him, and he prepared for his assault.

A flash of light and a resounding crack stopped him just before engaging his enemy, and Archangel heard a thump behind him as his enemy crumpled to the ground. He turned around and reached down to pick up the automatic shotgun the man had been carrying, before facing the form of the sibling who had rescued him.

His sister, devoid of her helmet, came up and smirked at him. "How embarrassing; the mighty Archangel was captured by a hired gun and held at the mercy of a rookie. How embarrassing."

Archangel flicked her on the nose. "I was about to kick his ass, if you hadn't interrupted me."

She swatted his hand away and smiled. "Oh sure, sure, I bet you were. Come on you dope, we have a mission to complete, y'know?"

Archangel shrugged and followed his sister down the hallway he had been captured in, and he knew she was leading him once more unto the breach, although this one would have far more dire consequences.

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><p>Archangel stepped into the room where the objective was located, gun at the ready, little sis by his side. He surveyed the whole situation in seconds. Cossack and Scorch were pinned down behind computer terminals on the far left of the room, while the terrorists suppressed them with PKPs and shotguns from the opposite end.<p>

He and his sister hadn't been noticed yet, and the two of them silently agreed that dismantling the EMP device in the center of the room was top priority. The two of them dashed for the large, turbine looking piece of machinery, dodging the occasional burst of machine gun fire as an enemy soldier noticed them.

Once they reached the cover of the actual EMP device, Mission got to work on opening one of the many panels that would be needed to place an explosive charge inside the equipment. Archangel watched her back, blasting the over-confident hostiles who rounded the corner of the device to stop the two siblings.

"Go! Hættu þá núna!"

Archangel looked up at the source of the foreign voice, and he saw what was likely an enemy commander on the catwalks above. He had half a mind to shoot him, but he was too far away to get a decent shot.

Seeing that his soldiers were making no progress against Onyx Squad, the man pointed at a technician cowering behind a control panel. "Dmitri! Kveikt á tækinu!"

The technician yelled back, "En herra! Tækið er ekki tilbúið! Hver veit hvað mun gerast?!"

Archangel had no idea what they were saying, as he didn't speak Icelandic. But as he saw the commander order his subordinate and the technician begin pressing buttons on the control panel, he knew that it was not for the best interest of he or his team to let the technician live.

So he shot him. With a shotgun, which caused much of the spray to hit the machinery instead of the technician. And as that happened, Archangel realized what negative consequences that could have, the feeling amplified by the loud sounds of whirring and grinding of broken machinery and fried circuits in the EMP device behind him. If only he had used a rifle; such a mistake could've been avoided.

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><p><strong>So this is the new first chapter! Sorry if it felt a little rushed at the end, but I was getting sick of writing. Hope this will draw more new readers in and give experienced readers a new perspective on the OC and the world he came from. <strong>

**Thanks for reading!  
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**Shadow0Fire~  
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	2. The Whims of Fate

**So** **now I finally get to write about more important stuff. I feel that the prologue was a little too serious, as i mean to have more humor in this story. Hopefully it'll flow together when it's done. Thanks for reading!**

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><p>Many things felt wrong at this moment in time, although it was difficult to discern what exactly they were, as Archangel's world was dark. He was somewhat aware that he was waking from unconsciousness, and barely registering that things were not as they should be. Something about the ground he was on felt wrong, something about the temperature was off.<p>

As Archangel was roused to full wakefulness, he clutched the ground beneath him with stiff fingers, expecting to feel the cold metal floors of the terrorist facility; but instead coming into contact with the coarse texture of sand. He slowly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a bright yellow sun. Rubbing the stabbing pain out of his eyes, Archangel noted that something was very, _very _out of place here. The heavy atmospheric changes that had occurred because of NOVA had long since affected the sun's rays on Earth; from the surface, the sun appeared red at most times. Yellow light from the heavens had been unheard of for years.

When he could finally see clearly again, Archangel cast his blue eyes to the sky, further confused by the lack of a ceiling, which had definitely been present before he was rendered unconscious. He saw pure blue sky and fluffy clouds. Birds even. Wild birds were nearly extinct on Earth.

Where the hell was he? Certainly not Greenland. Certainly not anywhere on Earth that he could think of. As he looked to his left and right, he couldn't see the ocean or cliffs that had been his previous surroundings. He couldn't see any of his team either. As a matter of fact, he couldn't see anything for miles around. He was in a desert. A massive, burning desert. There were no people, no buildings, and definitely no trees. He had no idea where he was.

The Legion commando tried to remember what had happened. It only took a few seconds to recall his mistake in the hostile facility. Upon damaging the console that had partially shielded his target, the EMP device behind him had begun making crazy sounds and emanating large amounts of heat. Just as he turned to pull his sister away from the malfunctioning machinery, he had been engulfed by a sphere of blinding white light that originated from somewhere within the EMP device.

That was all he could remember. He assumed he had lost consciousness after being hit by the wave of light, but that was as far as his logic could take him. He had been in Greenland... and now he was in a desert. A desert with birds, and a yellow sun, with rays unaffected by apocalyptic atmospheric changes. The explanation for how such a thing was possible eluded him. As far as he knew, nowhere on Earth was still in this condition.

Worried about what had happened to him, but knowing a self-inventory was more important at the moment, Archangel glanced down at his own form. He noticed as he craned his neck to look down at himself that all of his gear was gone. Only his casual clothing remained; his jeans, black t-shirt, and his father's red jacket that he had received during his time in the Air Force. The strange thing was that he didn't remember wearing any of this outfit under his armor earlier. Then again, nothing that he had observed so far made any sense anyway, so the young soldier didn't dwell on it for long.

He figured he might as well try to find a city or something, so he pushed himself up on one arm in an attempt to sit up. Halfway through, he gasped in pain as a sharp pang in his side stopped him short. Looking down, he noticed a nasty puncture wound; burnt around the edges, just under his ribcage, and bleeding profusely. At first unaware of what had so grievously wounded him, he came to the conclusion that the EMP device itself had exploded; sending heated, razor-sharp shrapnel into him when he turned to grab his sister.

He gently pressed his fingers inside the gruesome injury, feeling for serious damage. Although it pained him greatly, the wound itself was not so bad; it had missed all of his major organs, and he couldn't feel the actual shrapnel anywhere inside him. The furthest extent of the damage was his shredded and charred muscle in that area. Thank God the projectile had been small; any larger and he'd be incapacitated from the pain, only to bleed out while unconscious.

Finished with his analysis, Archangel gingerly removed his fingers from the hole. Despite his best efforts, he still flinched at the pain it caused him. If he still had his gear, he could have properly treated the wound, but it was still nowhere to be seen. Instead, he took off his jacket and tied it around his body in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, that did nothing to ease the pain, and he cringed several times as he stood up.

He couldn't help but let out a few tears. Although he had been through much worse, more than once even, his wound still hurt like hell. More importantly, he could already notice his vision fading ever so slightly around the edges. If he lost consciousness now, he would almost certainly die. Either from blood loss, the sandstorm brewing out on the horizon, or even worse; predators. Archangel had already almost been eaten alive a few years back, and he had no intention of letting that happen again. God only knew what kind of creatures were out here. If experience was anything to go by, then they were probably vicious animals with an uncanny knack at killing their prey in such a harsh environment.

Archangel realized that the sun had arced towards the horizon a bit even in the short time he had been analyzing his surroundings. After berating himself for wasting so much time thinking, he stumbled down his first sand dune in an attempt to find civilization. He had no idea which direction he was going, where he was, or even the time and date, but whatever had landed him in this desert could be easily described as a total bitch. It was all he could think as he trudged along, all the more irritable because of the sand in his shoes.

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><p>No rest for the weary was a very common saying, and also a very true one. Airi knew this for a fact because she was one of those weary people. Menace ran off at every chance she could get, and Melona was more interested in staying out of the swamp for as long as possible, rather than doing what their master told them to. Airi let out a heavy sigh as she hovered ever so slightly above the ground, which strangely didn't attract any attention from the passing citizenry. Now that she thought about it, she and Melona had been almost completely ignored since they arrived in Menace's new "Kingdom of Amara" which made her believe that the people here were likely under one of the ancient princesses' many curses.<p>

None of that truly mattered anyway. All that mattered was getting Menace back to the swamp within the time frame the Swamp Witch had given her servants. Airi had no intention of being punished again because of her two companions' incompetence, which unfortunately led to another problem. She had no idea how to get Menace to come back with them; she was terribly stubborn about ruling her reborn country. And if she didn't manage to bring her back, Master would no doubt be the most displeased with Airi, since she was supposed to be the reliable servant. Melona had already mentioned forgetting about the swamp and not going back, but Airi wouldn't allow it; it went against the will of her master, and that was unacceptable.

"Hey, you punk! I'm not finished with you! Get back here!"

Airi looked towards the commotion that had disrupted her thoughts, that being some sort of scuffle across the alley in another street. It looked like a few drunkards were messing with some poor sod. There was a feeling of concern and sympathy for him, but Airi knew she had no time to waste on the petty fights of drunkards. With small effort on her part, the wraith ignored it and kept moving forward, not noticing that Melona had stopped following her until a few feet later. She looked back to see the pink nuisance staring at the fight that had broken out across the street with peculiar interest. Before Airi could tell her to ignore it however, she dashed into the alley that would take her to the fight. Airi sighed and turned to follow her, her thoughts taking a morose turn as yet another distraction cropped up.

_Why am I the only one who can stay focused?_

As she turned the corner and the commotion came within her line of sight, she noticed the Melona was actually quite irritated. Not angry per se, but annoyed for some reason. She had one of the men who had started the fight pinned against a wall while stepping on the throat of another. Airi tried to identify what had made her so act so strangely; upon looking at the victim of the brawl, she thought she had figured out why. A young man with unusual blue pants and a strange red top tied around his stomach was curled up on the ground in a small pool of blood that she assumed was his own. However, it was clearly not caused by the brigands, as none of them had weapons to inflict an injury that would bleed so badly.

Airi was in the service of the Swamp Witch, that was true. But that didn't mean she wasn't someone capable of righteous anger or empathy. How could these drunk bastards ruthlessly beat up someone already injured so badly? And chances were, they had assaulted him for a stupid reason anyway. Airi summoned her scythe, the weapon materializing from apparently nothing, and moved towards one of the men who seemed to be the leader of the group. He was on the ground and coughing up blood, having either been hurt by the man they had beaten up, or by Melona. Either way, Airi was seriously considering killing him, or at the least maiming the bastard. Instead, she dropped her scythe to his neck and pinned him on the ground with her heel.

The surprised, scraggly gray-bearded man looked up at her. "What the hell? Get this thing of of me! I-!"

Airi cut off the man's sentence by digging the edge of her weapon into his skin. She gathered as much malice into her voice as she could before speaking. "I'm giving you and your friends one chance to leave. If you so much as talk to this man again for any other reason than to apologize, I'll kill you. If you come back to hurt him after I'm gone, I'll kill you. In fact, I want you to leave this city and never come back, or I'll kill you. Understood?"

The man nodded as well as he could with the scythe pinning him to the ground, obviously too terrified for words. Airi looked at him with disgust as she raised the edge of her weapon away from him, allowing the man to shakily get to his feet. "Then get going, before I change my mind."

The man hesitated for a moment, perhaps a little too shocked to react as quickly as he should have.

"Now!"

Without a second thought, the scoundrel dashed off as quick as he could, and his cronies had gotten the message loud and clear as well, each scrambling off in a different direction like cockroaches caught in the light.

Melona walked over to the poor traumatized man that had been assaulted. Kneeling, she uncurled his fetal position and rolled him onto his back. It wasn't a pretty sight; he was bruised and cut in many places, some of the injuries clearly from the group of thugs. It almost made Airi want to call them back here so she could return the favor. But on the other hand, some of the wounds looked several hours old. What could this man have been doing before his encounter here in the city? Especially in reference to the injury just under his ribs, which was particularly gruesome, although Airi couldn't tell what had actually caused it. It was ragged and burnt around the edges, and pretty deep by the looks of it. She had half a mind to stick her fingers in and see just how deep it really was, but dispelling that thought didn't take much effort on her part.

Melona picked the battered man up and gently slung him over her shoulder, however "gently" one could do something like that. The slime smiled mischievously at her ghostly companion. "Well what are you waiting for? We have to take him back to our place!"

With different ideas of where home was, Airi was confused for a moment. "You want to take him back to the swamp?"

Melona's face went from a Cheshire grin to a slight frown. "No stupid, the inn room we rented to stay in while we're here. Like we were gonna walk for 3 weeks to take him back to the swamp. He probably wouldn't even last another day anyway."

Airi scratched the back of her head. "Well we really shouldn't..."

Melona sighed. "You idiot, what's the point in saving him from a bunch of thugs if you're gonna let him die afterwards?"

That did make sense, now that Airi thought of it. She looked at the man they had rescued, and decided that persuading Menace could wait just one more day.

"Fine," she said irritably. "But why did you intervene anyway? I didn't think empathy was even in your vocabulary. You saved someone for no reward at all?"

Melona turned to walk back in the general direction of the aforementioned inn. "He's cute, and looks interesting. Why not?"

Airi rolled her eyes, not surprised to know that the slime's reasons had been less than honorable. "Whatever you say... he's not staying for more than a night though, alright?"

Melona probably didn't even hear her. She was already half-way down the street, whistling as if she had won a prize that she had wanted for a long time.

_If anything, _Airi thought sarcastically, _he won't want to stay with us for that long anyway._

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><p>With no small amount of pain, Archangel finally woke from his fatigue-induced slumber. He was a little slow to actually see where he was, if only because he was nervous to find out. But he couldn't just sit around all day, so Archangel slowly opened his eyes, fully expecting to see some form of the afterlife, though he hoped it was heaven. Unfortunately, his eyes were only met with a dull wooden ceiling.<p>

_Wow... __heaven is a lot more disappointing than I thought it'd be._

He tried to remember what had happened. By the time he had reached a town or city or whatever kind of settlement it had been, he had already been close to losing consciousness. In fact, he could barely even remember what he had done since he entered the outskirts of the settlement. Blinded by pain, he had done little else besides stumble around and hope someone would notice his poor condition. Unfortunately, the only people who had noticed were the kind he didn't want the attention of.

He knew he had been assaulted, likely because he had bumped into an unsavory group. They probably would not have been much trouble, had he not been critically injured already. That being the case, Archangel had not fared well.

But now the wounded soldier was in a bed somewhere, looking up at a very dull ceiling with no noteworthy features. Being in bed, however, was much nicer than burning in the desert. But he digressed: wherever he was, he wasn't dead and he could actually see now that his vision had cleared up. This was good, but on the other hand, he couldn't remember being more sore in his entire life. No doubt a good stretch would help him out, at least a little.

With that in mind, Archangel stretched his entire body and groaned from the half-pain, half-pleasure feeling it gave him. It felt so good actually, that he hadn't noticed his left hand had run into something soft and squishy until several seconds after making contact with it.

When the rather pleasant texture finally registered in his mind, he slowly turned his head to see what it was. What, or who, actually, was quite shocking. Sitting on a stool next to his bed was a pink girl. And when he said that, he meant really, _really _pink. Besides her skin and her eyes, everything else was pink; pink clothes, pink hair, and pink... bunny ears? Archangel had a moment of blank thought, unsure of what he should say or do. The fact that these ears looked as though they grew straight out of this girl's head, along with her bizarre and extremely revealing outfit, temporarily stopped all other thoughts running through his mind.

As soon as he realized that his mind had blanked, Archangel reprimanded himself; distraction was a fatal mistake. He prepared to do whatever was necessary to kill this girl if she proved to be a threat.

But apparently, that would not be necessary. The girl giggled, and Archangel noticed her face for the first time. She had a sly grin and was looking down at his hand. "Cute and bold, looks like a winner..." Archangel followed her gaze and saw exactly what his hand had grabbed. As the reality of the situation hit him, he realized he was on a roll for mistakes today: groping a woman usually wasn't the best way to start off a relationship.

He jerked his arm back as if he had been stung; "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I swear!"

She just smiled again, although it was more disconcerting than friendly. Something about it made him think she viewed him as more of a plaything than a person. "You don't have to apologize," she said, "after all, I can't really blame you for wanting a feel of perfection."

Archangel cocked an eyebrow at the stranger. Since when had women been so..._accepting... _of these situations? "Uh, no I uh...would rather not..."

The girl pouted a little."Oh, come on! As long as Airi doesn't find out, it's fine! I mean, it'd be dangerous if she did, but you should live a little, sheesh."

Archangel interrupted her before she got too deep into the subject. "I'm sorry, could you back up a little bit? First of all, who are you?"

The exotic girl sighed tiredly, as though she had already explained this too him, even though he knew she hadn't.

"Okay look," she said slowly, "I am Melona. MELOOOOOOOOOOOONA. Got it?"

Archangel replied irritably. "I'm twenty-one, not five. There's no need for that kind of emphasis."

She made that unnerving smile again. "Oh, I know, it's just that a lot of men are really stupid, and need things explained to them in a more... _simple _way."

Archangel decided against mentioning the obviously false stereotype this woman entertained, content with merely rolling his eyes and offering an exhausted sigh of his own. "On another note, who was that other person you mentioned. She didn't sound overly friendly, by your description."

This Melona person was about to answer his query, when the smooth voice of a new arrival, one quite a bit deeper than Melona's but still wonderfully feminine, replied instead. "I think you're referring to me, and I'll have you know that Melona is the last person to get an opinion from."

Archangel looked away from his current companion to lay eyes on the new arrival, and was instantly captivated by her.

Personally, Archangel had always been into brunettes, but there was always one girl who can change your mind on such things. Like this one. The first thing he noticed was that this girl was dressed quite strangely, although not as much as the pink one on the stool was, as he couldn't remember ever seeing a girl in a maid's outfit in the past eighteen years. Especially not the kind she was wearing. Instead of that design most maids wore in the stereotypical setting, what with the long dress and full sleeves, -which covered everything, to the disappointment of many males- she wore the kind that Archangel usually imagined French maids to be wearing, with thigh-highs and short skirts and open blouses. He found it bothersome that he thought things like that were attractive, because he hadn't been too fond of French people since that run-in with their armed forces a few years before NOVA.

But back to the point; besides her outfit, her hairstyle was pretty unusual as well. He had seen twin-tails before, but none quite as long as hers. They would've touched the floor if she tilted her head too much. Her hair was also an incredible red: maybe scarlet, but he had never been too familiar with those colors outside of the basics. He also noticed her eyes were a very alluring shade of green. Forest, or emerald, or whatever color you could call it, they really captivated him. Something about her eyes made him feel...enraptured.

Of course, a few other "things" attracted his attention as well. She was very sexy, to say the least, and as beautiful as her eyes were, it was pretty hard for Archangel to resist ogling her body. It was almost too perfect; she wasn't too thin or too large, not too tall or short, and the parts Archangel was more interested in were awesome, to say the least.

"What do you think you're looking at?"

Archangel snapped out of his little fantasy and realized he had probably stared at the redheaded beauty for a little too long. The girl put down a bag he hadn't noticed she was holding and moved towards him. "From my point of view, it looked like you were _examining _me."

Archangel's soldier sixth sense kicked in as an oppressive threatening aura descended on the room. He didn't feel like he was in fatal danger, but bad for his physical health nevertheless. He looked up at the stunningly beautiful redhead again, and he could've sworn there were little purple flames floating around behind her.

_Even my brain is portraying how angry she is... _He thought worriedly.

Archangel worked his mind as fast as he could for a possible answer, deciding to try and worm his way out of this predicament with a little underhanded acting. She wouldn't beat him senseless if he pretended he didn't speak English, right?

"Uh...nein, no llamo, uh...kanichiwa?" He knew that whatever he had said made no sense, but he hoped these two didn't know he had just jumbled random words from different languages.

The pink girl next to him giggled. "Oh come on, silly! I already know you speak our language, you were talking to me earlier, remember?"

Archangel looked at the redhead again, who was even angrier than before now that he had tried to avoid her question. She pulled something out from behind her back, seemingly out of nowhere. With a brief flare of optimism, Archangel truly believed it might not be so bad. Maybe it would be something good. Then he realized exactly what it was, with no small amount of fear. It was a stick. A very long stick, with a similarly long curved blade on the end.

Archangel looked back at the pink girl and then at the maid in front of him with the grim reaper's weapon, and a new thought crossed his mind; maybe he was in hell. It made sense. Maybe this was the first circle. He looked back at the pink girl and tried as hard as possible to remember her name.

_Melona..you will pay for this... I swear I'll get you for this..._

The redhead raised her scythe like a club, and Archangel realized she was only going to beat him senseless, and not decapitate him or anything. At least that was good, all things considered.

* * *

><p>Menace whistled happily as she imagined her new servant-to-be. Melona had mentioned that the man that she and Airi had rescued was not only physically fit, but also handsome as well. Perhaps he would make a good concubine, which she had always wanted. Of course Setra wouldn't approve; but she was the future queen of the kingdom, so what she said was how things were going to be. The little perverted staff would just have to deal with it.<p>

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><p><strong>So I consolidated chapters 2 &amp; 3 to to save some space. I think people may be more inclined to follow the story if it seems longer at first, since the later chapters are long and these first ones seemed too short.<strong>**  
><strong>


	3. Past & Present

**I would like to thank Blue Eyes White Knight-BEWK for actually reviewing this story and even giving me some great ideas for it. Seriously, if the rest of you guys gave suggestions as well, perhaps it would influence the story. Anyway, thanks for reading!**

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><p><em>Strange names for strange men... I suppose it makes sense.<em>

Airi, alone in the inn room she and Melona had taken residence in for the duration of their stay in the desert, could not really think of anything else. At some point last night, the man she and Melona had rescued revealed his name to be Church: a strange name, to say the least. Airi hadn't known that until this morning, when Melona told her, because the wraith herself had been more than displeased with the man for supposedly ogling her last night, and hadn't spoken to him since beating him over the head with the blunt end of her scythe.

She had been gentle, more or less, in punishing him, since he was already injured and all. Besides, Airi had used her rudimentary medical knowledge to take care of his wounds while he was still unconscious, and she was not eager to repeat the bloody process. Stitching a hole in someone's side one time was more then enough for her.

Rolling onto her side, the redheaded wraith stared at the bloody black shirt that she had removed from Church's body while treating him last night. There were no tears or anything in the shirt itself, which surprised her. Such a big puncture wound would have had to go through his shirt, right? Apparently not, because the only blemish with the fabric was the copious amounts of dried blood and sand that stained the dark shirt.

Sighing in resignation, Airi rose to her feet and moved to pick up the shirt, deciding that she might as well clean it for him. Just seeing dirty clothes gave her a nearly irrepressible urge to clean them anyway. Besides, no one was there to judge her cleaning habits, as Church had been dragged out of bed early that morning by Melona, who insisted that he go to the marketplace despite his condition to meet Menace.

Without a shirt, the man had simply zipped his jacket to the collar to hide his bandaged torso. Surprisingly, even though he was tired and probably should have been resting, Church had offered almost no resistance to Melona at all. Then again, he had probably already realized that resisting the slime was useless, even after a single day.

That being the case, Airi didn't mind cleaning the man's shirt. It was the least she could do after beating him over the head even though he was already injured. And besides, he didn't seem to be as bad of a guy as the maid had first made him out to be. Before being dragged out of the inn by Melona, Church had made a specific effort to apologize to Airi for upsetting her the previous night, and he genuinely thanked both her and Melona for saving his life and treating him as well as they had.

That didn't change the fact that he had openly ogled her at first sight, but Airi knew that kind of thing was normal, for a man... plenty of men gazed at her perversely in the streets, but she always ignored them. And at least that meant Church thought she was attractive...

Airi's movements froze at it occurred to her that having this man attracted to her made her slightly happy. But she wasn't sure why, and buried the feeling immediately. He was probably no different from any other pervert that only cared about her body. Just because he had dazzling blue eyes, and a wonderfully charming smile, and attractive chocolate brown hair... that didn't make a difference. Nope. None at all.

Airi scrubbed the black farbic in the sink before her with more vigor. The only way to get the these silly thoughts about Church out of her mind was to work them away.

* * *

><p>Church leaned against a building as he took a reprieve from the two girls at the market stall ahead of him. Despite his less than optimal condition, Church had barely gotten a break since he had been rudely awakened by Melona that morning, who had insisted on dragging him to the marketplace to meet one of her friends. She was certainly out-going, that was for sure... Church barely knew anything about the people he was fraternizing with, so it was a little strange to be so friendly with them so readily.<p>

Then again, maybe he did know just a little bit about Melona. After Airi had nearly beaten him to death the previous night and finally left the room in anger (although she seemed to forgive him to some degree after he apologized to her this morning), Melona had decided to stay in the room with him for awhile. After he decided to tell her his name, since he decided he couldn't be addressed by a codename by these people who clearly had no ill will towards him, the pinkette had talked with him long into the night, and Church found that he actually liked Melona. She was quirky and eccentric, and had an all-around bubbly-personality that was pretty fun to be in the same room with.

As for the morning's newest arrival, Church was still feeling a little wary. Menace, whose name basically screamed "Bad Omen, don't hang around me," had shown up in the marketplace to meet him and Melona. She looked like some sort of princess from ancient Egypt, and had displayed great interest in Church from the very moment that they met. She had been asking a lot of strange questions as well; queries about willing servitude and the type of masters Church preferred. Quite frankly, he had no idea what she had been talking about, and he really hadn't wanted to. Although Mission said he was delusional, Church believed that he was very awkward around women, and he didn't like extensive conversations where he made a fool of himself.

But all things considered, Menace seemed nice enough, and although she was a bit weird, that was good enough for him. The new acquaintance that Church was really worried about was Airi. Church felt that the redhead already strongly disliked him, which was unfortunate, because he really liked her, aesthetically speaking. That was a bit shallow, but he hardly knew a thing about the girl, so how else could he judge her other than by how hot she was?

Despite all of these new confusing thoughts, Church was aware that he was in the wrong frame of mind. Why was he so relaxed right now? He should have been worried; about his friends, and about himself. He still didn't know where he was, how he had gotten here, or what had happened to his team. Worst of all, Church wasn't really bothered by his ignorance. It made him feel guilty, not caring as much as he should. Even the fact that he was separated from his little sister didn't bother him terribly much, which only served to make him feel even more uncomfortable...

"Hey Church! Come on, the next one is over here!"

Church glanced at the energetic black and pink haired girls waving at him to follow them down the road. He had to find out what had happened to him... but maybe taking a break from all of that fighting he was used to wasn't such a bad idea. He could use a little relaxation every once in awhile.

"Come on Church, You're taking forever!"

Well, with company like this, it may take a little while to get used to...

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><p>A little ways away from the brooding red-jacketed foreigner, another young man with a lot of things on his mind stood quietly in a side alley as he diligently stalked his prey.<p>

His informant had been accurate; the man who had last been seen with the scythe-wielding ghost maid was out in the market, and had indeed been staying at the same inn as she was. Not for the first time, this stranger was glad to have such an efficient informant, who could get intel like this to him within a day of it actually happening.

The mysterious stranger readjusted his hood with one hand and twirled his breaker with the other. Revenge was close at hand; he could just see his goal finally becoming reality, just after he was done interrogating the red-jacketed man who had some association with his target.

Perhaps he would dispose of the man as well, while he was at it. Anyone who was associated with that ghostly abomination didn't deserve to live. Not after what she had done to him. And when he was done, maybe he could return home. He wanted to see his love so much, to take her away from the "teacher" she thought really cared about someone who wasn't a pure-blood. But it would have to wait: for now, he had business to attend to, and he would do anything to see it through.

Beneath the shadow of his robe, he smiled with self-satisfaction as he continued stalking his target,who had moved off to follow his female companions: his father would've been proud.

* * *

><p>During the course of Church's little market adventure, he felt his sniper sense tugging on the strings of his attention. Church had instantly stopped listening to the mindless banter of his companions when he had first felt it. As a skilled marksman since his teenage years, he had always known when he was being watched. It was a critical skill for a sniper to possess, knowing when another enemy sharpshooter had you in his sights, like a sixth sense as real as the five you had. Church felt the same presence now, as though someone were watching him with foul intent.<p>

Perhaps it was the thugs from yesterday? If it was, Church would not be able to defend himself; his wound was still hampering his mobility, and his weak knee put him at a further disadvantage. Even though Airi had done a great job of cleaning and wrapping the wound once he was asleep last night, he was in no shape for a brawl.

But Melona had claimed that she and both of her friends were very capable fighters in their conversation last night, although the only one Church could see as dangerous was Airi. Nevertheless, he had faith in his new acquaintances: if Melona believed they could protect themselves, then who was he to doubt them? Besides, _someone _had to scare off those thugs yesterday, and Church could definitely see Airi scaring away a group of burly men.

Still, Church couldn't help but feel that he was useless, having to be protected by women. Not that he was against a girl who could kick ass -his sister, for example- but the estranged soldier was used to being able to defend himself.

But for now, Church decided not to worry about such things. Yes, he would stay alert for any signs of impending danger, but otherwise he would push the matter from his mind.

Instead, he focused on a problem he hadn't expected to ever be in; according to Melona, who had decided to enlighten him earlier this morning, Church was being forced to travel with her and Airi, who were supposedly leaving the town without Menace tomorrow. With a wink and a sly grin, Melona had said it was because Airi thought he was cute, but Church had a feeling the maid would firmly deny that. It was more likely that she believed he had to repay her for saving him somehow.

Church had to admit that such a thing was probably fair. Besides, he would've begged the girls to let him travel with them anyway. He didn't know anyone else in this foreign land, and he really wanted to stay with people he knew were reliable in some way. Besides, he was already on slightly friendly terms with these girls, why let that go to waste? And of course, they were also very attractive, which gave them a lot of extra points in his book.

But in the end, Church knew he would have to find a way home. How long would he stay with his new allies before he found a way to leave? If he ever could leave...but there was no reason to worry about it now. For now, Church was happy, or at least not concerned, and he thought a little adventure would be good for him. He just hoped this "adventure" wouldn't end up like his last one... that was one mistake he couldn't bear the make again.

* * *

><p><strong>November 22, 2012-3 years ago<strong>

**During worldwide catastrophe known as NOVA**

**Outskirts of Berlin, Quarantine Zone Gamma**

"Double-time people! They're right behind us!"

Cerberus Squad moved as one as they fled from the mutant nightmares behind them. The persistent bastards were nearly impossible to shake off once they began a hunt. Archangel held the rear guard, protecting the four members of his squad, as well as Yurippe and Naoi, who had been separated from Blitz Team and the others. He turned to drop a few of the deformed human stalkers, but their number seemed to multiply every time he one-eightied to snipe them. Once one mutant locked onto you, it inevitably drew more to it's position, potentially increasing the amount of pursuers Archangel had to deal with.

"Watch the rooftops, Cerberus, those things climb better than damn Spider Monkeys!"

Archangel resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Cerberus lead's analogy. The term Spider Monkey didn't mean they climbed as good as spiders and monkeys put together. But he was right; the mutants reminded him of jumping spiders, leaping incredible distances to traverse rooftops and other high structures, giving them an edge over their human prey.

But "edge" or not, it didn't save them from Archangel. Whether they were above or below, hiding or dashing, their death was inevitable while Archangel safeguarded his team. But for how much longer? Archangel may have been a conservative killer and an ammo collector in this time of crisis, but he still only had so much ammunition. After he ran out, the pack of freaks that bayed for blood would run down his team and his friends, devouring them like so much raw meat. Of course, Acrhangel still had many clips left for his 9mm sidearm, but the mutants were surprisingly bullet-resistant; any thing less than a .45 caliber would take several head shots to drop just a single mutant.

This wasn't really a problem for Archangel. He was just as capable of nailing the twisted human heads with a 9mm as he was with a .50 cal sniper rifle.

"Archangel! We're heading down into the bunker, watch our backs!" Archangel turned to see Cerberus Lead assisting Yurippe and Naoi down into the destroyed wall of a stone bunker where Blitz and Cerberus were scheduled to rendezvous. It didn't look all that safe, all things considered, but underground was better than the surface when night approached, as it was right now.

Momentarily distracted, Archangel was brought back into focus as a twisted gurgling sound erupted from behind him. He twisted just in time to smack away an all too ambitious mutant with the butt of his rifle, narrowly saving his own neck.

The ex-Legion soldier mentally cursed himself for losing focus. A split second was all their pursuers needed to go in for a kill. Were his skills truly rusting already? Only eighteen and already losing his touch. Archangel unloaded one of his few remaining rifle clips into the now almost horde-sized group of freaks coming his way. Needless to say, it was not as effective as he would've liked, as it hardly dented the numbers his enemies possessed. Instead, the young commando pulled the pin of his last frag grenade and dropped the little ball of death at his feet. He counted to three before turning to leap down into the bunker , followed by a thump and a few twisted imitations of screaming from above.

Unfortunately, things weren't going much better down in the bunker. In fact, the situation was probably many times worse. The supposed 'Safe Zone' where the two Legion Teams were to meet was actually not safe at all. The place was crawling with mutants, no doubt the very ones that had ripped the unfortunate garrison in this place to shreds. Archangel could only imagine the terror that had overwhelmed the soldiers when they had been surprised by a horde of mutants crawling out of who knows where.

"Archangel!"

He turned to face the voice of his commander, who was setting up a charge to blast through a concrete wall. "We need cover! We're out of ammo and I can't shoot things when I'm arming an explosive. Cover us!"

Archangel nodded his affirmation and began picking out targets in the darkness of the decimated bunker. One after another, mutants uttered twisted, human-like cries and fell off walls and ceilings before writhing on the ground in agony. Archangel made sure to only use one bullet for each; and sometimes one for two when he could line up the shot.

Once he cleared out the bunker, Archangel believed he and his comrades were safe, allowing a modicum of relaxation to creep into his natural vigilance. If only he could have foreseen what was about to happen.

There was a howling that reminded him of hounds, and Archangel peered down one of the hallways that led to other sections of the bunker, where the sound had originated. He was met with a sight of horror. A large pack of Scamps, led by an even larger and more ferocious looking Brute was rushing down a hallway to devour the flesh of their human prey.

This was the kind of thing Archangel's nightmares were made of. Cerberus was stuck in a corner and a horde of freaks was rushing down an adjacent hallway to devour them. His options were few... he didn't have enough firepower to kill all of these things. However, he could see one plausible, if risky, solution: a gas pipe above the entrance into the infested hallway surrounded by weakened stone. If Archangel could rupture it, the explosion had a chance of collapsing the tunnel and saving his team.

Archangel lined up one of the easiest shots of his career, the cross-hairs of his rifle resting on the seam of the pipe, which would be the weakest. But fate is a twisted and cruel thing. Just as he fired, the commando's faulty knee buckled under his weight. After so much stress and trauma over the past few days, his physically handicapped left leg had reached the limit of its support without Archangel even realizing it, collapsing under his own weight. It threw his shot off by just a centimeter before it left the barrel of his rifle and streaked towards it's intended target...until it ricocheted off the concrete next to it.

He had missed. Archangel had no time to readjust, no time to recalculate or recover. He was falling to the ground, out of ammo, and the freaks were through the arch of the hall's entrance. He had...missed...and now his vision was going as well. Clearly, his fatigue had sneaked up on him without him even noticing, only to screw him over in this one critical moment. As his head painfully thumped on the floor and his vision faded, all he could hear was the agonizing screams of his friends, and all he could feel were the tears streaking down his face. He...had...missed.

* * *

><p>"...rch? Hey Church, are you sleeping? Wake up!"<p>

Church's eyes snapped open and he saw Melona gripping him around he shoulders with a questioning look on her face. Had he been daydreaming? It was so vivid, he had almost thought it was real. Church had drifted off into painful memories like that several times after NOVA. Nothing the New Eden psychiatrists were able to do helped; they had claimed that it was just trauma, and that it would wear off eventually, but lo and behold, it never had.

Melona tapped Church's nose to get his attention, much like Church himself did when teasing Mission. "Hey, are you all right? You're crying. Is it your side? Does it really hurt that bad? Maybe I was a little hasty, bringing you out here so soon..."

Church realized that he had indeed been crying. Mission had caught him doing it a lot whenever he was home, but she had never criticized the weakness, instead opting to comfort him. It wasn't until now that Church noticed how much of a hole his sister's absence left in his heart. He had always loved being around his younger sibling, and he felt even more depressed as he concluded that he probably wouldn't see her for quite some time.

Church plastered on a fake smile, agreeing with Melona's assumption to appease her curiosity before she started asking too many questions. "Yeah, my side hurts a little; but it's alright, I'm fine."

She put her hands on her hips and gave him an incredulous look. "Sure you are. C'mon, let's head back to the inn, bringing you out here was a bad idea. Besides, Airi'd be pretty mad if something bad happened to you. She seems all dainty and stuff, but that bitch can really be a pain in the ass."

Church gave her a quizzical look, a little surprised to hear Melona use such vulgarity towards someone he assumed was her friend. "Why would she care if I'm hurting out here or not? She doesn't like me at all."

Melona just put Church's arm around her to help support him and sighed. "You really have no idea how a girl thinks do you? You probably don't even know how to talk to a girl."

Church smiled genuinely this time. "Actually, I think last night was the longest conversation I've ever had with one..."

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><p>Although he had expected as much, Church was a little miffed when Melona found just one more stall to check out on the way back to the inn. He was really tired, and really hurting, although not as much as he felt he should have... anyone with his injuries should have been incapacitated for weeks, but he was in far better shape than that. Why?<p>

"OK Church, I know I said we were going back to the inn right away, but I reeealllllyyy wanna check out that stall real fast, so stay right here, alright?"

Church just nodded at Melona and raised one eyebrow as she half-walked, half-skipped away.. Never mind that he was in intense pain and extremely tired, there was another store to see! Church sighed as he observed Melona bother the store owner. The poor sod had no idea just how much trouble she was. Then again, Church didn't really know either. After all, he had only known those three for the past two days, and one didn't even count since he had been unconscious until late into the evening.

With little else to do, Church looked around the busy street filled with market-goers and other pedestrians. Many looked like average everyday people, albeit those Church imagined to be from what used to be the Middle East. That part of the Earth hardly existed anymore; it had been the first to be hit by the NOVA flares.

Church wiped his hand across his forehead, getting rid of the accumulated sweat. Man, he hated the heat. It was so hot because of this cursed desert environment; one of his least favorite places. In truth, Church really preferred inclement weather: thunderstorms and snow and the like. Mission had said that enjoying thunderstorms was weird, but he thought they were calming.

Church analyzed the passerby on the street again. Most seemed to fit into the middle-class in terms of money, although there were a few supposedly rich people as well. He couldn't see any poor people though; Church could only assume that the economy in this town was pretty good.

In his immediate arm-length range were a few interesting sorts, although most were men in light brown cloaks and beige turbans. There was one woman with a scarlet robe and cowl, but neither she nor the majority of men around were _really _fascinating. However, maybe the man to his left in a brown and black hood would be worth observing. He was slightly shorter than Church, but that was all he could tell from his point of view. Everything else was hidden under his hooded cloak. It was clearly suspicious, and Church was sure that in this sweltering heat, the young man must have been sweating something terrible. It was nearly 95 degrees out here or worse, as best as Church could tell.

He looked back at Melona, who was still bugging that poor shop vendor. If Menace was still here, Church would've suggested they just ditch her and go back to the inn, but the strange woman had disappeared earlier with some sort of excuse about advisers and something called "Setra," whatever that was.

That being said, it didn't seem like Melona would be done anytime soon, so Church decided to look around just a little bit. He would still stay in the general vicinity however, because he had no idea where he was going. If he wanted to get back to the inn, he would definitely need Melona's help. He walked towards the nearest wall and raked his fingers against it. Contrary to the surrounding air, it was cool to the touch. Church walked along it until he come to an alley on the side. He peeked around the edge to look into the narrow passage, seeing nothing of note. It was pretty empty, with just a few dislodged blocks littering the ground, and nobody was in it...

Church glanced back at Melona, who was still in the same state of annoying, patronizing customer. Church knew he probably shouldn't go in without letting her know that he was doing so but... he would anyway.

"What harm could it do?" He said to himself strolling into the alley.

Unexpectedly, a voice from behind answered his rhetorical question. "A lot."

Church turned to meet the unseen person's face. Or he had hoped to do so. Instead it was their fist, and he was falling towards the ground before he knew what had hit him.

_For the love of God, why does this keep happening to me?_

* * *

><p>Airi was still lounging around the inn, doing whatever she could to keep her mind off of her new traveling companion, but to no avail. Every time she stopped thinking about him, something in the room would remind her of her new situation; having a male in the company. Why had she even suggested to Melona that he tag along with them? Why hadn't she just saved his life, ditched him, then continued on her merry way?<p>

Airi stuffed her face into the pillow on the bed before throwing it at a wall, now questioning whatever whim had placed this Church person in her life, even if only for a short while.

Honestly, she wasn't really sure why this was frustrating her so much. Surely it was normal to think of a relative stranger who would be traveling with you for awhile. But it didn't feel that way to her. She was genuinely interested in the man, and for some reason it bothered her. In an attempt to ease her mind, Airi repeatedly told herself that Church was only on her mind so much because he was new; an aberration in the regular routine. It was just a temporary lapse that would wear off in awhile. Airi was her Master's servant, and something petty like a strangely intense fascination with a stranger would not deter her from doing her bidding.

But she digressed. No matter how Airi felt, it was boring beyond words to sit here in the inn any longer. She had already scrubbed Church's once filthy undershirt spotless, and if she didn't get out soon, it would drive her mad. Airi figured that she might as well go find out what the others were doing anyway. With Melona and Menace being the only two with him, she was actually a little worried that Church might've run away from them. Wouldn't be too surprising, with those two at least... and his serious injury meant he shouldn't have gone out today at all. His physical state was pretty concerning... _  
><em>

There was a complete stop to Airi's thought processes as she thumped her head against the wall. And again. And a third time for good measure. Maybe killing a few brain cells would keep her from unnecessarily worrying about strangers in her life.

* * *

><p>Church groaned as his awakened body felt the pain of a straight punch to the face. Blasted by an E.M.P explosion, punctured, mugged in the streets, beaten up by a maid with a scythe, and then mugged in an alley again; all in the span of two days. Seriously, he was on a roll.<p>

He opened his eyes to a completely empty room, minus a few crates in a corner and a chair in front of him. There was one window next to a very heavy looking door made of metal on the opposite side of the room. By the looks of the place, it was some sort of unused storage room or shed.

But now he had a problem, besides being assaulted of course. If he managed to get out of here, he would probably have no idea where he was, and he would be lost. He rubbed his head and sighed. He was sure he would somehow be blamed for all of this. But then again, he supposed it was kind of his fault. He shouldn't have wandered off by himself. Church rubbed his face and fell onto his back. "Son of a bitch..."

"Finally awake, you bastard?"

Church sat up once again to view the speaker, no doubt the one who had attacked him. A short man in a brown and black hooded cloak. The same one Church had noticed earlier, and had been suspicious of. Church inwardly berated himself for not acting on it before. "I knew I should've payed more attention to you, I-!"

"Shut up!"

Church cut off his sentence and stared at his current assailant. He analyzed whatever he could to figure out who he was. Unfortunately, the only clear details were his height and his voice. He was shorter than Church, who was only just above average, and his voice was quite a bit higher than his. Sounded like it had cracked to him. How old was this guy anyway? The person in question angrily raised a shaky finger at Church.

"I didn't give you permission to speak, you trash!" Church raised one eyebrow and looked at the person, who he definitely recognized as a boy, about 15 or 16 judging by his recent observations.

Normally, Church would be thinking of ways to kill his enemy, but seeing as he was just a boy, he instead held up one hand in the universal gesture for 'calm down.'

"Look kid, I don't really think you know what you're doing..."

The boy took a step forward, the pitch of his voice escalating in his uncontrolled anger. "On the contrary, I know exactly what I'm doing, and you'd be wise to do as I say! Vermin like you have no right to live, so just be glad I haven't killed you already!"

Now Church wasn't overly aggressive against younger people who weren't a direct threat, but he really wanted to beat this kid's ass. Although in his current state, it was more likely that the kid would win. Besides, Church had never really done too well in hand-to-hand combat. His weak left knee prevented him from doing many of the basic moves properly.

"So, uh, what did I do to be vermin, exactly?"

The boy cast is gaze to the floor and clenched his fist. "Are you mocking me? Do you really need an answer, after everything you've done to me? To my home, and my family, and my friends? You people destroyed my life, and I won't rest until I destroy yours!"

Church was so confused that he didn't even comprehend the kid's ranting completely. "OK, really, you just need to calm down and be a little more clear. Define 'you people..."

"You insufferable bastard!" The boy yelled furiously as he stepped forward and kicked Church in the chin, knocking him backwards. It wasn't hard enough to break anything, but it still hurt like all hell. The boy pulled out some sort of hand-sized circular blades that Church recognized as breakers. His medieval geek side gave him a lot of useless info like that.

"I don't even care anymore! I'll just kill you here and interrogate one of the others! Prepare yourself!"

As the boy crouched over Church to kill him with his unusual weapons, something clicked in the soldier's mind. This boy was no longer just a kid; now he was a threat, and Church had no qualms about hurting him.

His attacker slashed down at Church's exposed throat, but his target stopped the blow by grabbing the boy's arm at the wrist. Seeing this, the assailant swung his other breaker at him instead. This time Church opted to just punch his enemy in the face and send him reeling backwards.

The two of them separated from their grapple on the ground, and they both took the opportunity to scramble to their feet and prepare to attack or defend, depending on who made the first move. The hooded boy, impatient to maim his target, rushed forward and made a wild swing at Church's neck, one that he easily ducked under, giving him a clear shot at the kid's torso.

Aiming for the diaphragm, Church launched his fist into the boy's gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him coughing to the ground. Expecting the kid to be down for awhile, Church relaxed and took a few steps back from his fallen opponent.

As he did so, his feet were knocked out from under him by a sweeping kick from the boy. Falling to the ground, Church was half-impressed and half-annoyed that the kid was so resilient. He had no time to dwell on that though; instead he focused on rolling away from the following overhand blow from his enemy's breaker.

As he tried to get to his feet again, the kid was was on him halfway through, swinging viciously at the bulk of Church's body instead of aiming for anything in particular. Church pushed himself backwards in an attempt to dodge the attack, and he mostly succeeded. Mostly. Although he managed to get the top part of his body away from the sharp edges of the circular blade, his legs were not so lucky, and the enemy's weapon slashed against Church's handicapped knee.

Uttering a cry of agony, the fatigued soldier crumpled to the ground and writhed as spasms of pain wracked his body.

The boy, seeing that he was victorious, slowly sauntered over and came to stand over Church. "Just remember;" He said hatefully. "When you're burning in hell, it was a boy named Lucas Hunter who sent you there!"

Church looked up at his approaching demise, when suddenly a very bright light filled the room from the direction of the door.

"I'm not so sure you want to do that."

Both the boy and Church looked at a now open doorway to see the speaker, one whom they both recognized and both had very different reactions to. Church saw what he wanted and looked up at the ceiling. _Really God? Was it really necessary to scare me by almost letting me die like that? _

Church looked back down to his savior and smiled. "So does this mean we're friends now, Airi?"

The red-headed vixen cast him an irritable glance. "Don't count on it, you idiot. Do I really have to save you twice in two days?"

The boy who had been about to kill Church just trembled with either fear or rage; Church couldn't tell.

"Y-you..."

He looked back at Church, and for the first time he saw brown eyes burning with hate under that dark hood. "_This isn't over!"_

Then he dashed behind the crates on the far side of the room, and Church could hear a door being slammed open: apparently there was a side exit. Church slumped on the ground and sighed, his body still burning from his temporary spasms a few moments ago. Airi came over and grabbed his hand to pull him up. "Next time I'm not going to save you."

Church just grinned and tried to stand, but his weakened body collapsed and he grabbed onto Airi's waist as he fell to his knees, putting his face in a rather awkward position. Half-pleased and half-embarrassed with the situation, he blushed furiously. "U-um...s-sorry!"

Airi restrained herself, just looking away and muttering instead of punching Church in the face. "Y-you idiot..." She pulled him back up and placed one arm around her shoulder. "I'll forgive you this time..."

Church smiled.

"But next time I'll beat you senseless. Got it?"

The man blanched and nodded as obediently as possible. It was amazing how fast she went from cute as an angel to devilishly scary.

* * *

><p><strong>Just like with the previous chapters, I consolidated these three. <strong>


	4. Halcyon Reminiscense

**So I went through all six of the previous chapters for this story, and I realized just how many mistakes I had in them spelling-wise. In fact, a whole sentence was missing from one chapter. So from now on, I'll make sure to double-check everything, since I used to just write it and publish it in one go. So anyway, some other QB characters are going to be thrown in within the next few chapters, as well as another OC, so if you guys have any suggestions for it, I might consider bending the story a little. But not for the OC, his identity is already set in stone, so don't bother with that. Actually, I don't think I'll be accepting any more OCs for the story, but if I change my mind later, I'll let you guys know.**

* * *

><p><em>Damn it all. Damn this situation, damn my weak knee, and damn all of this freaking walking!<em>

Church leaned on a tree for support as he mentally complained about his physical handicap, and the stress that was being put on it. Since the incident, he had never been able to travel on foot for long periods of time, and he always had to stop for a rest every few minutes. Of course, Church was actually in even worse shape than usual since that kid in town banged up his knee, therefore worsening his condition. Even though Airi had done her best treating the wound, it still pained Church considerably.

"Hey, Church! Come on, you're falling behind; again!"

Church glared at his two female companions on the road ahead of him, both of them looking back at him in dismay as he failed to keep up.

_I see now that being physically injured has no bearing on the speed at which I'm expected to move. Women are so heartless.__  
><em>

Church returned his gaze to the ground as he continued to catch his breath and rest his throbbing knee. The newly formed trio had left the desert city around a day and a half ago, and had been traveling on a dirt road since. Church didn't really mind the physical stress, but he felt like he was burden to his new found acquaintances. The group was just now reaching the outskirts of the desert itself, where the first real leafy green vegetation was starting to show. Church thought that at a normal pace, they would've made it much farther than this. Surely he was at fault for slowing them down.

"Hey, are you gonna sit there all day? We're on a schedule here."

Church sighed mentally as he registered Airi's voice in his ears. Surely she was about to reprimand him for being so slow. Guess it was only fair.

Church looked up to address her.

"Just a sec, I-?"

He paused in mid sentence, thrown off by an unexpected development. Airi had her hand outstretched, and she was patiently waiting for Church to take it in his own. Church looked at her softly smiling face -which also confused to him, as he had only seen Airi angry or irritated in their time together- and then back to her hand twice. Surely she didn't _really _want him to do that? As far as Church knew, Airi really didn't like having physical contact with him, for any reason.

Seeing Church's hesitation, Airi pressed on in what Church could've sworn was an almost tender voice.

"Come on, you idiot. If you need help, you can just ask; I don't mind... even though it's you."

Church was too busy panicking to take note of the half-joking gibe Airi had made at the end of her offer. In fact, he was about to make a foolish mistake that most guys do when confronted like this; saying no even though he would've loved to accept her help.

Church pushed himself away from the support of his tree before giving a terribly stupid reply to Airi's kind offer.

"I-it's OK. I'm fine. I uh… don't really need your help, Airi."

Church walked past the girl without accepting her help, silently berating himself the whole while.

_Damn it! That was a perfect opportunity and I just blew it! I mean she was willing and smiling and everything! Not to mention that answer sounded a lot worse than I had intended... kinda made me sound like a douche.  
><em>

Church glanced back at Airi, but he whipped his head back around when he noticed her glaring daggers at him.

_And now she's mad again… there's no way I'm going to survive long enough to get back home..._

Church decided to try and ignore Airi for the moment. Dwelling on the unpleasant things that she could do to him was bad for his mental health. Instead he jogged a little to catch up to Melona so he could ask her a question.

"Hey, Melona? How come Menace didn't come with us?"

The obnoxiously pink-clad girl just waved her hand in dismissal, answering without even looking at him.

"Oh, some boring political stuff was apparently more worthwhile than hanging out with us. She's totally obsessed with restoring her dead kingdom."

Church made no comment, as he was completely lost at the mention of dead kingdoms. Melona took his silence as a sign to continue, looking over to her male travel buddy and putting on that unnerving smile Church had come to find just a little bit worrisome.

"But I'm glad she didn't come. It just means I have one less girl to compete with, right Church?"

Church just cocked an eyebrow. He didn't really know what she was talking about, and he was pretty sure he didn't want to.

His reaction caused Melona to move forward a little and pinch his cheeks. "Aw Church, you're so cute when you scowl like that!"

Church pulled Melona's hands off of him without a second thought. "Please don't do that again. And besides, I wasn't scowling. That was my normal face!"

The pinkette backed up a little and looked at him with doubt. "Come on, Church. You're telling me that your normal face is always a frown like that?"

Church shrugged and scratched his head. "Yeah, I guess. Is it really that important?"

Melona responded excitedly. "Of course it is! Frowning like that all the time is terrible! You need to smile more, or you'll scare away everyone who sees you!"

The bunny eared loudmouth stopped in her tracks for a second and put a finger on her chin.

"But I don't really know the kind of things you like Church, so I don't know what could make you smile. Hmm…"

After a few moments of thought, Melona snapped her fingers in revelation. "Oh I know!"

Without warning, she moved closer and put her arms around Church's neck, pressing her body against him seductively. "How about a bath with Airi this evening? That would make you happy, wouldn't it?"

Church nearly fell over backwards at the mention of it. He broke Melona's grasp and turned away as quickly as possible to hide the embarrassment on his face at imagining such a thing.

"N-n-no! Definitely not! Something like that wouldn't make me happy at all!"

Melona had a bewildered look on her face. "Oh? I thought you would like that for sure…" Then she smiled perversely and made a seductive pose. "Maybe you wanna take a bath me instead? I mean, my boobs are _so _much bigger."

Church just ran ahead off his companions while shouting back over his shoulder

"NO! I don't want a bath with either of you!"

Melona yelled after him.

"Aw, come on Church, that's mean! I can understand not wanting one with Airi, she's a bitch, but me? I'm attractive right?"

Melona was about to chase after Church so she could force a confession out of him when she felt a malicious presence behind her. She turned around to face a very angry-looking wraith.

"Now what did you mean by that exactly, Melona?"

_D…dammit…I thought she had stopped listening a long time ago..._

* * *

><p>Airi leaned against the willow tree that was near the place the recently formed group had decided to camp for the night. It was near a small pond, with cat-tails growing here and there, and covered in grass all over. It amazed her that somewhere with so much flourishing nature was within a few day's walk from the desert. Of course, if Church hadn't picked up the pace earlier this morning, they probably wouldn't have made it his far yet. Airi wasn't sure why he had decided to speed up either. Church had moved faster, but he had made sure to stay ahead of Airi at all times. Was he trying to avoid her? Did what happened this morning really bother him that much?<p>

_Maybe he dislikes me? Of course, I have been kind of harsh since I met him... but I was trying to be nice this morning! But then again...I guess that doesn't really make up for the other incidents... I mean, I DID beat him over the head on the first day..._

For some reason, the thought of Church not liking her saddened Airi, but she wasn't really sure why. Realistically, she shouldn't really care at all. Having Church 'like' her did not further her master's goals at all. And what did she plan on doing with the man once she and Melona returned to the swamp? As far as she knew, Church was totally useless. Even some teenage kid had nearly beaten him! He had been injured before that though...

Speaking of which, Airi wasn't sure where Church had gone. She knew he wasn't with Melona, who had fallen asleep under another tree about an hour ago (She hadn't even known that Slimes needed sleep). And as she had already noted to herself, Church seemed to be avoiding her, so he wasn't in her general vicinity.

He must have actually disappeared before the sun had set, because Airi couldn't recall seeing him roaming around the tiny clearing earlier. And now it was about evening… where had that idiot run off to? She didn't want to end up saving him from something petty again. Airi decided that it would be best to look for him, lest he get killed by tripping into a tree and breaking his neck.

Airi didn't really have anything better to do anyway. Figuring that Church would probably be somewhere in the general vicinity of the camp, Airi was about to fly and look for him from above, but decided against it after a few seconds of consideration. She didn't really want Church to know about her…unique circumstances. Maybe that was stupid, but it made sense to her, and that was reason enough to not do it.

She decided to check the pond the trio had sighted earlier first, as it seemed like a likely place for that dope to be, being the only noteworthy feature around this empty place. Having decided to head in that direction, Airi strolled quietly through the copse of trees that separated the clearing she had occupied and the pond she was heading to. It was actually a pretty small section of trees, but since they were all willows, the wraith couldn't see the pond on the other side: the low hanging branches formed a dense wall of green that was impossible for her eyes to penetrate. She could've gone into her ethereal form to walk right through the branches, but instead she just pushed through them normally, letting the willow branches brush against her body. Airi had always loved nature: especially beautiful areas like waterfalls and lakes and such.

Thinking of such things brought back a bittersweet memory for the once human girl.

Airi used to have this wonderful dream when she was younger. She was in a secluded grove that had an amazingly huge waterfall that poured into a beautiful, clear lake. The banks of the lake were covered in soft white sand, and beyond that, luscious green grass and every type of tree she could imagine. And the area was filled with all kinds of life. Vibrant red and blue birds would chirp among themselves in the trees, and stalwart elk would sit on the lake's edge, watching the waterfall with almost human intensity. On a small hill just a little ways off from the bank was a cherry blossom tree, the only one in the whole grove.

In this dream, Airi would always be sitting under that cherry blossom tree, staring off into the lake. But she was never alone. Every time she had that dream, there was someone with her. A boy, who was always by her side, holding her and making her laugh, and letting her sleep on his lap. She couldn't remember much about the boy, except that he had really deep blue eyes, and that every time she got older in real life and then had the dream again, the boy would be older too, her same age.

Airi smiled to herself as she lost herself in the memories of her favorite fantasy: to live in that beautiful grove with that wonderful boy forever and always be happy. But reality was not so kind. Since her death and resurrection, Airi had never had that dream again. On the contrary, now all she had was nightmares. The redhead could scarcely go a single night without her head being filled with the terrors of Hell, which she had briefly experienced before the Swamp Witch had resurrected her to serve. Airi had stopped waking up in tears years ago, but she still squirmed in her sleep on occasion, according to Melona.

Airi buried her dire musings in a dark corner within her mind, hoping to keep them away from her thoughts. Broken out of her reverie, the ghost-maid looked around to see that she was still in the copse of willow trees, but that there was far less light than there had been earlier. How long had she been standing there?

Deciding that it didn't really matter, Airi pushed through the last of the weary trees and came into view of the pond, which was unfortunately dirty and nasty and corrupted with pond scum. That aside, her intuition had been correct. Church was indeed on the pond's edge, sitting with his legs folded on a large rock half sunken into the wet ground surrounding the pond. He was intently studying something in his hands, but Airi couldn't see what it was from behind him.

She knew it would be rude to sneak up on him, but Airi was sure that Church would hide whatever was in his hands if he knew she was there, and she really wanted to know what it was. She decided to levitate ever so slightly above the ground to avoid making noise, and slowly hovered towards the seemingly clueless cross-legged man before her.

Airi was just about to peek over Church's shoulder when he put his left arm on his shoulder and pointed right at her.

"You can't sneak up on me, you know. Might as well stop."

Airi put her feet back on the ground before Church realized the abnormality. She was embarrassed to have been caught sneaking up on him like that, and she was also afraid that Church would get the wrong idea.

"H-how did you know I was there?"

Church didn't even look at her.

"Psychic sixth sense, of course. Either way, why were you sneaking up on me?"

Airi scratched the back of her head while she thought of an excuse. If she told him the real reason, he would think she was nosy. Granted, she _had _been acting nosy, but that was beside the point.

"Well, um… you kinda disappeared without telling anyone, and I wanted to make sure you weren't doing anything, uh, you know…weird out here."

"...Weird?"

Airi realized how dumb that sounded when he said it.

"Y-yes. Weird. But uh, what were you doing anyway?"

Church glanced at her for just a second before answering.

"Just looking at an old picture of mine. It's nothing important."

Airi knew she probably shouldn't be sticking her nose into Church's business, but she couldn't help but wonder about the picture. Church was acting weird anyway, so she figured she might as well find out what was wrong, satisfying her curiosity at the same time.

"A picture? You mean like... a painting?"

Church just nodded, still staring off into pond's waters.

"Um, may I see it? If you're okay with it, I mean."

Church hesitated for a moment before turning to her and handing over a small slip of paper.

"Be careful with it please."

Airi gently took the paper from him and examined it. Instead of the image itself, she was first fascinated by how small it was. The image itself was clear and amazingly well painted, but she didn't know how any artist could paint a picture so well on such a tiny canvas.

Church spoke up when he noticed her fascination.

"It's called a photo. Have you never seen one before?"

Airi was a little irritated that Church knew something she didn't, but it wasn't a big deal. It was just a picture, after all.

"No. I haven't seen anything like it before. How do you make it?"

Church grinned just a little.

"I, uh…don't really know how it works exactly. But I guess you could call it a special type of painting? Or it's close enough to one, I suppose."

Airi decided to forget about the details and just look at the actual picture. The image was of a smiling, brown- haired, blue eyed boy in a red jacket and a slightly shorter girl with long brown hair and vivid green eyes. The girl had her arms wrapped around the boy's neck and was sticking out her tongue, as if she was trying to mock whoever was was looking at the picture. Airi noticed that the boy looked a lot like a younger version of Church, but only by a few years.

"Is this you, Church? Well, I mean, it'd make sense if it was, but…"

She looked away from the painting to see Church with his eyes closed and head propped against his hand. Maybe he was more tired than he looked. She was about to tap him on the shoulder, but he answered her before she could do so.

"Don't worry, I'm still awake. Yeah, that was me about four years ago."

"And the girl…?"

Church took a few seconds before he decided to answer.

"…My sister. Well, cousin, actually, but she and I are so close that it's like we were born siblings. I... really miss her."

Airi wondered if she should push Church's personal life any farther. She wanted to know more, but she was afraid she might ask an inappropriate question and make Church uncomfortable. She decided she would find out more later.

"Thank you for letting me see it."

She handed the picture back to him, which he quietly tucked into his jacket before returning his gaze to the still waters of the pond.

Airi couldn't help but notice how depressed he looked. She knew she shouldn't care, but seeing him sad made her kind of upset too. She decided she would go ahead and apologize now for the last few days to try and cheer him up.

"Um, Church? Can I tell you something?"

Church didn't even look back at her, and his response was hardly there.

"Uh-huh. Whatever."

Airi walked around the rock Church was sitting on so that she was standing in front of him. She wanted his full attention, so she didn't have to apologize twice.

"Look, Church. I just wanted to say that, I'm uh…sorry. I'm sorry for having been so harsh to you these past few days. I kind of...overreacted when we first met, and I've been... a little mean since then."

Church cocked an eyebrow at her and jokingly said,

"A _little _mean?"

Airi balled her fist at him.

"Hey, don't ruin what I'm trying to do here! I'm trying to apologize!"

Church smiled genuinely, partly because it was just fun to tease the overly sensitive woman, but also because he felt quite a bit better knowing that Airi didn't hate him so much after all.

"Well…thank you, Airi. I...I appreciate it."

The awkward silence that followed was made slightly less so as he watched Airi blush at his response, if only a little. She looked very cute when she was acting shy.

He ended the moment by saying,

"Would you mind helping me get up? My legs are cramped."

Airi was only too happy to oblige. This was the first time she had made someone else happy. It felt kind of good actually. Maybe Church wasn't such a bad guy, like she had originally thought...

Or perhaps, as the foolish man stumbled onto her and knocked them both to the ground, she was giving him too much credit.

A few seconds of anger kept Airi from saying anything. She was just deluding herself. Here he was again, sticking his face into sensitive areas, _again_.

"Y-you…pushing me down like this, after I apologized to you and everything…"

Church moved as fast as lightning to push himself off of Airi's chest.

"I- I swear that wasn't on purpose! I'm sorry!"

Airi grabbed Church's jacket before the unlucky man could run away. "You perverted bastard…I won't forgive you this time! Get over here!"

Unable to escape her wrath, Church could only complain to himself.

_Damn it, why is it only me! This only ever happens to me!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, this is the longest chapter yet! Unfortunately, it wasn't too terribly interesting. But I think it gave good insight into how Church and Airi are going to function together. But I really need your opinions for this chapter. I want to know your thoughts on this chapter! What I want to know most is, do you guys think Airi was too OOC? That's what I'm worried about the most, so please tell me this guys! <strong>_


	5. Magnet of Misfortune

**Alright, I know I've been an ass about reviews lately. So from now on, I won't be doing that. I sincerely apologize for the way I've been in all of these author's notes. But seriously, I don't ask for reviews because I want to hoard them. I don't do it because it makes me feel better. I want them because the few of you who have reviewed this story had really good ideas, and I WANT MORE OF THAT. More good ideas that you readers have that help make this story better than I can alone. So don't misunderstand. It's not for popularity or confidence or any of that. I just want my reader's serious input.**

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><p>"I don't think we'll be getting over this."<p>

Church was crouching at the edge of a massive gap in the cliff side road ahead of the party. "I don't know about you guys, but I won't be able to jump over this thing."

Airi and Melona stood together a few feet behind him. The mountain path they were currently on was a small outcropping jutting out from a mountain on their right, which was a few hundred feet above a massive forest on their left. In fact, Airi could see nothing but trees stretching to the end of the horizon out that way. It had taken a solid week since leaving the Amara desert to reach this point.

The forest itself had many rumors and speculations about it, the most popular of which was the existence of another race in those dense trees. Elves, to be exact. Almost no one believed it though. Not many had ever seen the elves, after all. However, Airi already knew that those pointy-eared people existed. A few months ago, she had been tasked with destroying a certain elven village that the Swamp Witch wanted gone. She had succeeded too, but was defeated afterward when another warrior had unexpectedly showed up. She had never gotten over her loss. The fact that she had failed to finish her master's orders because of that bitch ticked her off. Next time, she would teach the blonde bimbo a lesson.

Melona nudged Airi's shoulder and whispered to her so that Church couldn't hear her. "This will be no problem, Airi. We can easily make it over this. You'll just have to carry Church while you fly over."

Airi didn't answer her friend, but stared uncomfortably at her feet instead. Truth be told, she didn't want Church to find out about her...'unique' condition. She wasn't sure why. In reality, Church probably wouldn't even grasp the concept of her being a wraith, but she felt that he, like everyone else who had ever found out, would hate her. She was an abomination, after all. Even an easygoing and carefree person like Church wouldn't accept her as she was. So she wanted to hide it.

"Well, um... I don't think we should let Church know about our abilities. I don't think he would react very well, you know?"

Melona scratched one of her bunny ears while she thought about it. "Well yeah, I suppose. But otherwise, it's gonna take a really long time to get around this."

Having finished his analysis of the obstacle in question, Church walked back towards the two girls amidst their short conversation.

"Something wrong?"

The two girls paused their conversation in unison and looked awkwardly at Church, having been addressed while talking about him. Church took quick notice of their expressions.

"Oh, sorry. Probably doesn't concern me, right?" He motioned towards the edge of the cliff he was just at. "I'll just be over there, alright?" With that he walked away from his two friends and towards the cliff edge to wait out the conversation they obviously wanted to have in private.

Melona smiled as he walked away from them. "Oh, he's a real gentleman isn't he?"

Airi responded sarcastically. "Oh please. That perverted idiot doesn't have any good points at all. I don't even know why we brought him along..."

Melona smirked at her. "Well, I believe the reason was that you couldn't stand the fact of letting such a handsome guy out of your sight. You were afraid that some other girl might take him before you could."

Airi blushed furiously as this was somewhat true. "T-th-that's not the reason! Not a big one anyway! It was because he owes me, alright?! Sheesh..."

The agitated maid quieted as she noticed Church glancing back in her direction, no doubt attracted by the sound of her yelling at someone else besides him.

Airi just scratched the back of her head in her embarrassment, hoping the man she had a little bit of a crush on hadn't noticed that her outburst was about him. Melona snickered as she watched the reaction of her fellow servant.

The awkward moment did not last long.

A loud crack suddenly resonated through the air, followed by a resounding crunch that bounced off the mountainside and reverberated through the bones (And whatever the hell Melona is made of) of the three travelers, nearly tossing all three of them off of their feet.

An entire section of the cliff was breaking off from the mountainside, and wouldn't you know it, it was the exact section Airi and the others were standing on. Airi grabbed Melona and pulled her backwards, the two of them flattening themselves against the wall of the mountain. "Get back! Hopefully it won't break this far!"

They were just in time too. Just as they backed against the cliff wall, the entire section they were standing on previously broke off and slid down the mountain, creating a rock slide that startled many of the birds that had been resting in the nearby trees. The dust cloud it caused blinded and choked Airi and Melona for nearly a full minute.

Melona spoke up after she finished coughing dust out of her gelatinous body. "Good thing we avoided that, huh? Would've been bad if one of us had fallen down there! Right guys?"

Airi cleared her throat of any remaining dust before answering as well. "Sure, good thing. Are we all alright?"

Melona quipped happily. "Roger that! Fit and ready for duty captain! How 'bout you Church?"

No answer was forthcoming, at which point Melona could only assume the worst. "Eh... Oh-! Don't tell me he fell!"

Airi panicked too. She looked to the left and right of the damage that had been caused, but couldn't see Church anywhere. He was already hurt, and if he had fallen, surely he would...

Melona recovered from the shock quickly. "Don't just sit there, Airi! We have to go look for him, he's probably bleeding down there somewhere!"

Airi quickly shook off her panic as well. The fact that she had only known this man for a week, or the fact that she was supposed to be reporting to the Swamp Witch, which should have taken precedence over everything else, didn't even occur to her. "R-right! We have to go find that idiot! Damn it, why can't he take care of himself!? I'm going to beat him when we find him! If he's not alright... I-I'll really hurt that moron!"

Though her words were harsh, Airi felt like crying. Just the idea of Church broken and bleeding at the foot of this mountain hurt her terribly. If she were not wrapped up in shock and panic, the wraith may have found time to ask herself why she even cared. Church was still a relative stranger, who had no value as an asset to her master. Wasting time to rescue him was, for all intents and purposes, pointless. But she did not ask herself why her legs were carrying her to the edge of the cliff to look for this man. She only asked how she was going to save him, once again.

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><p>Church wondered if God was trying to tell him something. Even after all of his previous accidents, falling down a cliff amidst a rock-slide was a little over the top, as were his injuries. He was bruised and cut all over, and he was in so much pain that he could barely move an inch. Either that, or he had been paralyzed. Fortunately though, that was unlikely. The Legion's cybernetic implants strengthened the skeletons of their soldiers, especially sensitive structures like the spine and skull. He was also pretty sure that he hadn't been hit in any truly critical areas on his way down the mountain.<p>

But he still couldn't move. And the little of his body he could see without stretching his neck was banged up pretty badly. From the wounds he could see, he was bleeding profusely. He needed to staunch it quickly, but at this rate, it didn't seem likely he would be doing that anytime soon.

Instead of continuously and futilely struggling to get up, he relaxed and examined his surroundings. Above him was a massive tree canopy, only interrupted by the massive mountainside he had fallen from. The leaves were thick and full, overlapping each other and completely cutting of Church's view of the sky. Yet somehow, the area itself was still bright, as if the trees didn't block out the sunlight. The only sky Church could see was through the torn gap in the tree directly above him, it's branches snapped and broken. He assumed he had fallen through it, along with the shattered boulders that were scattered around his immediate area.

He wondered what had happened to Airi and Melona. They had been farther away from the fracture site, but when cliff sides collapse, they could spread pretty far. Church had learned that the hard way during his special survival training in the Grand Canyon back in Arizona. Of course, that time he had equipment fit for the situation. This time, he was just kinda screwed over. But he figured that his friends were safe. After all, if they had fallen as well, they likely would be somewhere in his immediate vicinity, but there was no sign of them around anywhere.

But right now he needed to worry about himself. He was bleeding out, and he could feel himself slowly losing consciousness, just like that time back in the desert. Still, if he faded out here, he probably wouldn't die. Those cybernetic implants mentioned earlier also slowed down the rate of blood loss, as well as resistance to shell shock and the like. But if he did lose consciousness now, he would be extremely weak when he awoke. Doubtless, he would still be unable to move, even though his body might've recovered from the fall damage to some extent.

Church knew he shouldn't fall asleep, but he was just so tired... and it was also getting darker. He hadn't realized how long he had been lying here. If it was already night, than he had been bleeding for at least an hour or two. He knew he had to move, had to get up. But all he wanted was rest. He felt all of his stamina being sapped from his body when he tried to move, and he soon lost all will to even try to do so. Sleep beckoned to him with all the sweetness it could, urging him to close his eyes and embrace his fatigue. With little energy to resist, Church did just that.

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><p>Church awoke to feeling of bliss. You know, that feeling you have in the morning when you're awake, but you just lie in bed, happily thinking about how cozy it is...until you realize you have to get up for school or work, and you curse every deity, person you hate, and thing you don't like that you can think of. Except for Church, it wasn't work or school, it was that self-defense system your body had called <em>pain<em>. Hey buddy! Although you can probably tell, you're pretty hurt, so here's overwhelming amounts of _pain and suffering_ to make you feel better! No need to thank us, we're just doing our job!

Church could feel every little cut and bruise he had, from head to toe, each "doing their job" the best they could. He remembered an episode from Mythbusters that said cursing could reduce pain, and he thought of shouting out every cuss word he could think of, from "Curses!" to as many of the more vulgar obscenities he could conjure up. But he decided screaming that out as loud as possible wouldn't be a good idea until he found out where he was. If he was still in the woods, then he would definitely unleash his verbal rage, not that it would actually help.

He cracked one eye open to see where he was. In a bed, a very comfy one, that had strangely textured green sheets. They reminded him of leaves, but these were seamless, and there was no way any single leaf could be this big. He also noticed that he was in a small wooden room, which was bare except for the bed and a small little counter to the side. But the wood itself was not like the ones he imagined back in his world. The wood itself felt more...natury. Yes, natury, another made up word Church would add to his database of useless bullshit. But the wood did feel very different, like it was still part of a tree, and not just some wooden boards that had been pieced together to make a floor. There was also a ray of light coming from something above and slightly behind him, but he couldn't crane his pained neck to see what it was, so he just assumed it was a window, or something of the sort.

Altogether, it was quite nice in this little room, wherever the hell it was. Church couldn't remember anything beyond passing out in the forest, so he had no idea where he was or what he was doing here. But it wasn't like he could go anywhere and find out, because the most movement he could muster right now was to sit up in the bed, and even that pained him all over.

"Ow, geez..." Church observed the room again, and now that he looked closely, he couldn't see a door anywhere, which seriously worried him. There was a wall protruding from the left side of the room, which he assumed was an alcove or something, and Church hoped there was some sort of entrance on the other side.

Maybe he should call out? Whoever had found him had clearly not intended to hurt him, unless they wanted him conscious for interrogation... but he couldn't really avoid that if it was going to happen. He was stuck in this bed, and he wouldn't be going anywhere at this point. He might as well call out and see if anyone was around.

"Um...hello? Anybody around out here?" No answer. Maybe he had been left here to recover, and whoever had taken care of him would be back later? Either way, nobody was answering him, and he didn't really feel like going back to sleep. How long would he have to wait here?

But his irritable thoughts were interrupted before he could continue thinking them. "H-hold on! I'll be there in just a moment!"

It was a young girl's voice, sounding like it was coming from the other side of a wall. Perhaps there was someone outside after all? He waited patiently for the girl to come in the room, but it sounded like she was having problems with a door somewhere. A full two minutes passed before he finally heard said door being slammed open and the sound of footsteps descending stairs. Church hadn't even known there was a stairwell behind the wall, but he supposed it didn't matter. His visitor quickly turned the corner of the wall and stepped into the room.

Church automatically began his analysis without even thinking, as he had learned to do from his first days of Advanced Marksman Training back in Germany. The girl in front of Church was a few inches shorter than him, by the looks of it at least. She was also pretty thin, but Church could tell that she lean because of exercise rather than malnutrition. Her brown hair was bound up into twin-tails, and a monkey-like thing was resting on her shoulder. Her amber eyes were the epitome of cheer and kindness in a look. Coupled with her bright smile, Church could tell this girl was of a more enthusiastic nature.

He also noticed that her bright orange clothes were sort of... scant, but she didn't really have to much to be modest about anyway. Taking all of that into account, as well as the pitch of her voice just a couple of minutes ago, Church assumed the girl was about fifteen or so, though it was impossible to be sure.

This strange girl spoke up before Church could address her. "Thank goodness you're OK! Elder Taowrol said you probably weren't going to make it, so I was worried. But you seem fine!"

Church just cocked an eyebrow at her. She sure was enthusiastic considering he didn't even know her. "Yeah, I'm fine, but...uh..."

Church's sentence just drifted off as he stared at the girl's face. Or more accurately, her ears. _Pointed ears_. Church knew what that probably meant, but it was still blowing his mind on multiple levels. A few plausible explanations attempted to logically answer the problem in his comprehension: Elves? Impossible, they weren't real! Maybe they were surgically attached? Was he still on painkillers? Probably not, since his whole body hurt.

"Um, sir? Are you OK? You seem a little pale. Are you still hurt?" Church wondered if he was going to run into dwarves or demons or something next. It felt like he had jumped into the Elder Scrolls or another similar fantasy game.

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine. But um, were exactly am I? I can't remember anything."

The girl responded happily. "You're in Syrinidell! I guess you would just call it the Elven Forest. I found you on the edge of our forest, and you were hurt really bad, so I brought you back here to help! The council was against it, but the Captain convinced them to let you stay until you were better. But they said you couldn't stay because no one wanted you in their place, so the Captain decided to let you stay here at her place instead!"

Church was a little confused when he listened to the girl's rapid sentences, but he was all in all relieved that everything might've turned out better than expected. This 'captain' the girl kept referring to seemed like a good person, although Church felt pretty bad about intruding in her home. He'd have to be doubly-sure to thank her for being so kind.

"She didn't really let me have to stay here you know. I would've been fine..."

The girl just waved him off. "It's OK! Although this is her home, she's hardly ever here anyway. She's usually too busy out training or teaching a lesson to the warriors. She only ever really comes back here to sleep, and not even then sometimes."

Church wondered exactly what kind of person this captain was. She certainly seemed busy most of the time, and yet she had still found time to take care of him. He probably wouldn't be able to thank her enough, but he would definitely try. He looked back at the girl in front of him. After all, she had been the one that found him and brought him here. "Well, thank you very much for saving me...uh..."

She smiled at him. "My name is Nowa. And you're very welcome, Mr...?"

Church could tell already that he was going to like this girl. "Church. Nice to meet you Nowa."

"Nice to meet you too! By the way, would you like some tea? The Captain has some pretty good stuff up there."

Church figured he might as well push his hostess' generosity as much as he could. "Yeah, that would be nice..."

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><p><strong> Like I said, I know of been an ass about reviews, and from now on, I won't be doing that. I hope you guys will forgive me for that kind of behavior for several of the previous chapters. From now on, I'll just try to accomplish the real goal of this story, which is to give you readers something you can enjoy reading. Thanks for reading!<strong>


	6. Kismet Encounters

**OK, so now that chapter 8 has reached at least 100 hits, it's time to begin chapter 9! (That's usually how my chapter pacing works.) This is unfortunately kind of sad! My newest story, The Exeter Project, has almost gotten that many hits in less than twenty-four hours! How is it that it's getting more hits than this, my most popular story? Oh well. Cheers to the next 3-4 chapters of this story, which will not include Airi or Melona at all! *Sigh, Depression.***

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><p>Church sat on the edge of the leafy, green bed he had been borrowing from its rightful owner, holding a cup of mysterious tea that the young pointy-eared girl Nowa had made for him just a few minutes ago. She had said that she wasn't very good at making tea, and although he had never been too much of a fan of the liquid, Church thought it tasted pretty damn good regardless.<p>

Since he had been rudely awakened by the well-aimed rays of the sun this morning, Church had been sitting around for what he assumed was an hour and a half or so. Since he had woken up yesterday, he had done practically nothing, sitting around and drinking tea and eating strange foods that Nowa brought to him every few hours; the energetic girl seemed to have a lot of free time on her hands, although she always had bundles of energy that could probably be well spent doing something else besides tending to a stranger. But on the flip-side, there wasn't really anything Church could do even if he wanted to; he had barely recovered enough to sit up on the bed like he was, much less anything else.

It was pleasant, being able to sit around and do nothing, but Church also felt that he _should_ have been doing something instead of lounging around all day. Surely laziness wasn't anyway to repay the hospitality that his hostess had shown him thus far. He should have been offering to do some chores or something.

Speaking of the hostess, Church was actually a little anxious to meet the elf captain that was taking care of him. To be honest, he didn't really know anything about these people. Did they look down on humans? What if, behind this seemingly wonderful situation, they had an ulterior motive for taking care of him?

But in the end, Church figured he was just being paranoid. After all, Nowa had been very kind and cheerful around him. Of course, she could have been faking it, but the girl had an innocence and friendly aura about her that Church could detect from a mile away. In fact, Church had only run into nice people in this world. Yes, Airi was included in that list. She was nicer than she acted, and most of the times she was mean was because he had done something to anger her. Minus his terrible luck with drunkards and natural disasters, Church realized that he had been a very fortunate man thus far.

Thinking of the people he had met so far, Church also came to realize just how fond he was of Airi and Melona at this point. It had only been roughly a day, but he already missed the regular routine: Airi's perpetual irritation regarding perversion and her petty insults towards the man who caused that irritation, as well as Melona's incessant teasing and suggestive jokes. Church hoped he could reunite with them soon, even though there was no doubt that Airi would be livid with him for getting separated: but he would happily welcome her pointless ranting and rage, accepting it as the cost of being near her.

Realizing that he was spending a lot of time thinking about his two absent sorta-friends, Church blushed a little and looked up at the ceiling to try and dissuade his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that he was so attached to the red-headed fire-spitter and her obnoxiously pink companion already. He berated himself for it: getting attached to people here was not a good idea. Church would have to leave eventually, and go back to his own world. It would be far harder to do so if he got attached to the people here. But how could he stop himself?

Church's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door to the residence being slammed open (He hadn't been outside yet, so he didn't really know what type of building he was in). He noted that his quiet time was _always_ interrupted by something. He heard light footsteps running through the house on the floor above and then down the stairs to his sick room. As he expected, the person making all this noise was Nowa. Church could tell from the look on her face that she was obviously excited about something.

Church continued to sip his tea and cocked an eyebrow at her. He didn't need to say anything. She would probably tell him either way. And she did, in a very cheerful tone.

"Mr. Church, I have something really important to tell you! The C-!"

Church held up a hand and cut her off.

"Whoa, slow down, Nowa. I told you already, you don't have to call me mister: just Church is fine."

The girl grinned and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry Mr.-! I mean, Church. It's just that you're technically older than me, so I'm supposed to treat you as an elder, and I just speak to you like that without thinking. I'm sorry."

Church smiled back at her.

"You don't have to say sorry. I'm not mad or anything. It's just that I prefer to be friendly with everyone. Including you Nowa; I mean, we're friends right?"

Nowa blushed slightly before breaking out into a wide smile.

"Y-yes! We are! So that means I don't have to address you like an elder... because you're my friend, right?"

Church laughed just a little (Laughing still hurt his sides, so he couldn't do that too much). Nowa's innocence was cute. He wished all the girls he had met in high school were like her.

"Yeah, that's right. So anyway, what was this 'oh so important' thing you wanted to tell me?"

Nowa clutched her head in frustration. "Oh no! I was supposed to tell you as soon as I got here! I meant to tell you, the Captain is-!"

Nowa's sentence was completed by another, more mature voice behind her, one Church had never heard before in his life, and he was pretty sure he would never hear a more melodious voice for as long as he lived.

"Already here."

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><p>What a bother. To be called by the Head Angel right in the middle of her bath. Nanael hadn't even been finished bathing; mostly because she was snoozing in the tub and doing nothing instead of actually bathing. But still, she should be allowed that much, at the very least. Spending all that time on Earth having to worry about not spilling some stupid bottle of milk had really tired her out. She definitely deserved a break! Besides, last time the Head Angel had spoken to her, it was just a talk about how incompetent she was and more threats of being sent to the netherworld. What could she possibly want from her now that was any different?<p>

Whatever it was, the disfigured angel figured she would find out soon. She had been waiting for the Head Angel to come out of the Holy Courtyard and tell her what she wanted, but she had already been waiting around for an hour, and there had still been no sign of the Seraph. One of the other angels had grudgingly (most of the other angels didn't like speaking with her) told Nanael that there was yet another angel for the same audience who hadn't shown up yet. Hopefully it had nothing to do with her.

Nanael had never been good friends with any of the other angels than Hachiel, and she was busy on another assignment elsewhere. She had always been looked down upon by the other angels because of her deformed right wing. In their eyes, such a thing was an imperfection: and therefore so was she. She had always blamed God for it. Why would he, who was supposed to be the source of all things good, do something so terrible to her? It wasn't fair, and that was why she didn't put effort into anything she was told to do. Why should she care what God or the Head Angel wanted? But despite all of these hurdles that blocked Nanael's path to happiness, she still had a ray of hope. She had no doubt in her mind that one day, she'd show them all: show them that she wasn't imperfect, and that in fact, she was the one superior to them. It was one of the only things that drove her to accomplish her assignments.

"Your thoughts dwell on things better left untouched, Nanael."

The blue-haired angel snapped herself back to reality to see the Head Angel standing before her, glaring at her subordinate with critical eyes, as usual. Nanael fumbled for some sort of response, to avoid standing around and gawking like an idiot. "I-I didn't know you could tell what we angels were thinking, Boss! That's uh…kind of scary."

The Seraph rolled her eyes. "No, I can't read minds, Nanael. It's just that you are easy to read when you are unfocused, and I did not like what they were dwelling on. You would do well to remember your place, before I decide the underworld is the best home for you after all."

Nanael dropped her gaze to the ground and resisted the urge to mumble some sort of sarcastic reply. She knew that she would just be reprimanded and told to "Hold her tongue and remember her place, lest you be condemned to the Underworld forever!" It was all the Head Angel ever said to her to her anyway. So instead she just said, "Yes, Head Angel. Forgive me."

_Not that I did anything wrong, you jerk-ass..._

The Seraph waved her hand dismissively. "That aside, I have an assignment for you. Do not bungle it this time! It will be your last chance!"

Nanael just nodded obediently, thinking of many other nasty things she wished to say instead of what came out of her mouth. "Yes, Head Angel. I won't fail this time."

The Seraph eyed the blue-haired angel dangerously. "You'd better be serious about this Nanael. This is an easy assignment, but it is still incredibly important. Pay attention to everything I'm about to say; you have a history of losing focus whenever I talk."

Nanael just nodded, a sign that she was indeed paying attention, despite the rebellious urge to ignore the Seraph just to spite her.

"Anyway, I'll spare you the details that you won't understand, but in short, there has been an anomaly in the fabric of this dimension. Some sort of rift occurred a little over a week ago, near the Continent's Amara desert. This abnormality is a serious matter that has never happened on the Continent before, and God is extremely worried about the phenomenon. However, Heaven has deemed that whatever it is, it is not necessarily dangerous. That is why we will be sending you to investigate. Do you understand?"

Nanael just nodded and pushed the info into a corner at the back of her mind. She would worry about it later. The Seraph eye's narrowed. "You're never serious about anything are you Nanael? That's why I'll be giving you a partner." She then looked behind Nanael. "Oh? And here she comes now."

Nanael followed the Head Angel's eyes to where they were looking behind her, and her demeanor instantly brightened as she saw her only pink-haired friend flying quickly to the two of them. "Hachi? What are you doing here!? I thought you were on another assignment!"

Her friend waited to speak until she landed beside the two very different angels. "I was, but I finished a little early! Nothing's better than finishing assignments ahead of schedule!"

Nanael snickered. "You're such an overachiever Hachi. I bet if you were human, you'd never get married."

Hachiel responded indignantly. "That's not true! Humans like women that can get things done, unlike you!"

The Seraph rolled her eyes once more as she witnessed the short conversation. "That is quite enough, you two. There are more urgent matters to attend to at this time. So if you are finished greeting each other, we should move onto the details..."

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><p>Church clutched his cup of tea, forgotten as it rested in his hand, and stared at the woman who had entered the room behind Nowa. She was stunning, to say the least. She was incredibly beautiful; long blonde hair, dazzling blue eyes, and a seriousness about her that was strangely attractive. Church couldn't help but notice that she was <em>very <em>sexy under all of her strange clothing as well. Was this Nowa's captain? Church was definitely surprised. He had assumed that the captain would be more... militant, perhaps? Either way, he hadn't expected her to be like this, although this was definitely many times better than what he had been expecting.

The gorgeous blonde looked at Nowa disdainfully. "I thought I told you to tell our guest as quickly as possible. Zero points, Nowa."

"Aw, come on Captain! Something came up: I was just talking to him!"

The older elf smiled. "Well I'm glad you've become friends with him, but be a little quicker about what I ask for next time."

Nowa grinned and nodded. "Yes, Captain! Of course!"

Church remained quiet throughout the two elves' short exchange. He couldn't say anything while he focused on Nowa's captain. He had the same feeling as he did when he had first seen Airi. This was the only woman he had seen so far that he thought was as beautiful as said redhead was. It made him feel sort of guilty, having thoughts he had originally reserved for Airi alone, but this elf woman was very stunning, and so Church couldn't really help himself.

The blonde elf woman eyed Church while he was staring. That was bad. Being caught staring at someone was always a bad first impression. He was about to make up some sort of excuse, but the elf spoke first.

"Are you alright? You look bothered by something." She seemed to contemplate something for a short moment before putting her forehead to his. "Has Nowa not been taking good care of you? Has your condition worsened?"

Church had trouble answering for a few moments. She was certainly far more bold than Airi, who would never do something like this. Then again, from her point of view, she was just checking his physical condition. Only Church was flustered by her close proximity. "I-I'm fine! Just fine! I was just a little surprised, th-that's all!"

She looked at him curiously, seemingly unaware of what surprising thing had occurred. "Surprised? By what?"

Church tried to avoid staring at her chest as he came up with a plausible excuse. Luckily, he was always a pretty good liar, so he came up with one with relative ease, and with enough speed for it to seem believable. "I-it's just that, until now, Nowa is the only elf I've seen, so I was a little surprised by you. You're both quite different from each other..."

_In more ways than one!_

She backed away from him and stood next to Nowa, almost as if to give Church an even more obvious comparison, although he knew that wasn't the case. "Is that so? It's no good to be so easily startled. Zero points."

Church was not sure why he was being graded, but paid it no mind, giving the woman before him time to continue.

"Either way, I do believe it is time I properly introduced myself. I am Alleyne, combat master of the elves here in this forest. And you must be Church: Nowa's already told me about you."

Church blushed again. Alleyne? What a beautiful name... Wait! What the hell was he thinking? He didn't even know her!

Church grinned and scratched his head. "I guess that means that you're the one who has been taking care of me. R-really, I can't thank you enough. If you hadn't saved me, I would've died for sure... really, thank you. I'm very grateful."

Alleyne smiled at him, although it was pretty subdued and subtle. She didn't seem like the kind of person who smiled often. "Your gratitude is appreciated. Humans are not often welcome in this forest, but I could not in good conscious deny assistance to you."

Church smiled. What a kind person this woman was, even if she was a bit too stoic for her own good.

"So how are you feeling? Do you think you'll be able to walk soon?"

Church couldn't believe how considerate she was about his condition. Airi had been nothing like this when she had rescued him from those thugs back in the desert. It was a very refreshing change of pace, one that Church was eager to get used to. "I-I don't know. I still can't move my legs very much. But, in any event, you don't have to let me stay here. I'll be fine if I exercise just a little. You've done enough for me already."

Alleyne folded her arms. "That's nonsense. You are our guest, and can stay for however long you need. In fact, I'll be here for the next few weeks, so when you're better, I'll help you exercise: it'll help you recover faster."

Church looked at the two elves in front of him. He was truly a lucky man. He secretly prayed that he would never get better. But he knew that if that happened, he probably wouldn't see Airi or Melona again, and he definitely didn't want that. But for now, for just a little while, he could be happy here, and he thought that almost nothing sounded better.

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><p><strong>So this chapter was roughly shorter than the last few chapters, but my outline for it didn't go past Church meeting Alleyne and Nanael receiving her assignment, so it can't be helped. The next chapter will take place over the course of a few weeks, so you can be assured that it will be longer! <strong>

**And hey, if you guys have interests in other anime, check out some of my other stories, you know? Thanks for reading! Feedback through PM or reviews is always welcome! (Or any other ways you can think of!)**


	7. Lofty Adversaries

**Lo and behold, out of the darkness came the tenth chapter, and no one will review it because nobody ever does. Shame on you! Just kidding, (although I would appreciate some more feedback) I'm glad to finally find a chance to start writing again. You see, it's the end of my school year here in Texas and there are Exams backing up more exams. Between studying and actually taking these tests, I've been away from Fanfiction for a long time. But now that I'm here, we begin another chapter that I will make as long as humanly possible for it's outline, in order to make up for lost time. And although it doesn't truly matter, the amount of hits for this story is almost at a third of the "OVER 9000!" mark. Whoop-de-doo.**

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><p>"Perhaps you should take a break, Church. Exercising too much when under physical stress can be of more harm than benefit to your condition."<p>

Church heeded Alleyne's advice and sat on one of the massive roots of one of the nearby gargantuan trees that this forest was composed of. Although technically, there were like, a hundred of said trees nearby. He could feel a lot of that deep-seated pain from his tumble down the mountain throbbing through his legs, especially his handicapped left. It had been two weeks since Church had awoken in the Elven forest, and the first week had been spent lazing around in bed and recuperating.

The second one, on the other hand, had been spent undergoing a type of 'physical therapy' with Alleyne, who had decided to oversee the proceedings herself as she left Nowa to her own training devices. She told him that his body would be weaker when he fully recovered if he didn't keep up his physical strength while he was healing. It made sense to Church, as there were a few studies going on back in New Eden about such a subject, although it was far more complicated and intricate in theory than Alleyne made it sound.

Church had been performing every exercise he could think off, from push-ups to curls and even jumping jacks: anything to keep him from losing his vitality as he recovered from a body-full of injuries. Alleyne observed him the whole time, sitting on high-up branches and looking down on him from above, pointing out things he could do better or commenting on activities he did that she didn't know about, which were few and far between.

But she more or less left Church to his own devices, never pushing him to go harder or farther or anything that he deemed beyond him at the moment, for which he was grateful. Even though she didn't know about his permanent physical circumstances beyond his current injuries, she didn't really press him do anything he didn't want to. It was strange, that someone who was apparently so busy all the time would take such effort to care for a stranger. Surely she had more important things to do. But Church was glad she didn't. He had learned a lot about Alleyne over the last two weeks, and he was glad someone like her was watching over him, even if it was only because she felt an obligation to be hospitable to her guest.

Usually, whenever Church took a break, she would come and talk to him about things, small talk about the forest or where he was from, and other friendly things like that. He didn't know if she was actually interested in speaking with him or if she as just doing it to be polite, but Church appreciated it either way.

However, today was unlike the previous week. Today Alleyne had been very quiet. Minus a few words or comments here and there, she was completely zoned out. Church would have called it 'brooding.' He felt like he should say something to her, out of one part politeness and one part genuine concern, but on the other hand, Church doubted that the experienced woman wanted to talk, especially with him of all people.

Although he wasn't exactly sure how old Alleyne was, he felt that she didn't view him as an equal individual, or at least one of equal status. But maybe he was misjudging her, jumping to conclusions and all... which he had a terribly bad habit of doing, so Church didn't dwell on it for long. If she didn't return to normal soon, he would try to see if anything was wrong, especially if he was somehow the cause of it.

But until then, he would just continue his physical exertions and sweat like a pig: it was not like he had anything better to do anyway.

* * *

><p>"The boy should not be here. She was wrong in bringing him into the village: more importantly, she did not ask for our permission first."<p>

The Elders that made up the Elven council sat in their customary circle of chairs in their private meeting chambers, aloft in the high branches near the center of the forest village. It was the highest structure in the settlement. This was where they debated the concerning issues of their home, and this was where they discussed the unwanted arrival of yet another human in their forest.

Elder Gimeni, the only female member of the council, and well past five thousand year's old, continued the first Elder's train of thought. "Indeed. This is also the _second_ time this has happened without our knowledge. Those six months ago, the Combat Master and her student brought that other human female here as well, also without our consent. Alleyne is beginning to act more independently than usual: she does not listen to our counsel as she once did."

Elder Taowrol, a grizzled old bearded elf who also happened to be the most respected man in the village and unofficial leader of the council, seemed to dwell on this intensely. "If the Combat Master no longer respects our wishes, than perhaps it is best if she did not stay."

Gimeni cast a dangerous glare at him. "Just what exactly are you suggesting? We dare not do such a thing, not to one of her status! The people would never allow it. Master Alleyne is held in high regards by our people. Our own warriors would turn against us if we exiled her."

Taowrol dismissed her worries with a wave of his hand. "Peace, Gimeni. I did not mean that. Exiling her would not solve anything, and furthermore, she hasn't _actually _done anything worthy of that punishment. Perhaps we should send her on yet another assignment: one that will require her absence for some time. In which we can devise a better way to deal with her growing... independence."

Elder Gimeni formed a tent with her fingers. "I see... and what of the human?"

Taowrol grinned in a way that would best be described as sinister. "I believe our newest arrival would like to help with that..." He glanced towards the corner of the council room, eyeing the snake that was coiled in the corner. And when he said snake, he meant the woman just as much as he did the reptilian creature.

* * *

><p>Church embraced a wave of relief as he submerged himself in cool water. After such a long day of exercise and sweat, bathing in this isolated pool was very nice. It was separated from the main village by a line of thick trees, obscuring the view of the pool from the village outskirts and vice verse. And apparently, the only people who knew about it were Alleyne and Nowa. Well, not including him, now that he knew. Once they had told him about it, he had insisted that he not use it, but the two of them had been very persistent.<p>

And he was glad they had. It was a great little spot that there was no way he would've found on his own. And since nobody else was around, he could stay here for a while longer than he really should...

A rustling in the trees around the pool caught Church's attention, pulling him away from his thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, he dismissed the disturbance as a bird or some other forest creature, and returned his focus to his peaceful solitude in the pool. However, this peace was immediately interrupted by the same sound he had noticed just a few seconds ago. Church knew for sure something was there, so he looked up again to see what it was, only to be met with quite an unexpected sight.

He spotted Nowa standing on the edge of the pool, though something was amiss. Church's mind was so blank that it took him a second to realize what it was, but once he did, he could feel a blush creeping into his face. Nowa was naked, standing there on the edge of the pool, not even attempting to cover herself, or even looking slightly ashamed, considering that he was right there. It was possible that she didn't realize he was here. But no, she definitely did. As he looked at her eyes, he noticed that she was staring right at him, so she definitely knew he was here.

And like he had mentioned to himself earlier, she wasn't covering herself. As much as he tried not to, Church couldn't help but examine her body. She was pretty lean, and well-toned muscle wise. She was also pretty shapely. As his eyes roamed over her body, they kept lingering on her chest and thighs. He couldn't help but notice just how small her chest was. Although Church didn't really find that attractive, he thought that something about it was kind of cute. All in all, despite her modest body, she was still a very attractive girl, and Church knew he was committing a moral crime by looking at her this way, even if she made no move to stop him.

He was about to say something to her about at least preserving her modesty, but Nowa hopped in the pool before he could say anything. Instead, she spoke first. "It's a really nice pool, isn't it, Church? I hope you don't mind me coming in."

Church stuttered the first few times he tried to respond, his mind still lingering on that last vivid image that had been tempting his eyes just a moment ago, despite his efforts to the contrary. "A-a-a-actually, you really shouldn't be in here N-Nowa..."

She cocked her head to the side and looked at him quizzically. "Why not?"

Church thought she wouldn't need an explanation. Wasn't the problem in this situation obvious? "Because I'm still in here, s-so you should've waited or asked me to leave before coming in..."

She gave him a look that said she still didn't understand what the problem was. Church thought he would clarify in the most general way possible. "Because I'm a guy and you're a girl, and we're both, well, you know..."

Nowa giggled just a little. "Actually, I don't know. I don't see anything wrong. In fact, I can even wash your back while I'm here, and then you can get mine! Isn't that convenient?"

Church looked at the cheery elven girl incredulously. Either she was completely shameless, or way more innocent than he had previously thought. It was most likely the latter, as he just couldn't see Nowa in a shameful way.

Nowa must've noticed the way Church was looking a her, because she stopped smiling and frowned, giving him a dejected look. "Church...do you not like having me around?"

Church was a little thrown off by such a depressing question coming from Nowa. In the past two weeks he had known her, she had always been happy. Or at least not sad. Hearing her speak with such a tone and asking such a question left Church without an immediate response, giving the girl time to continue.

"It's probably because I'm annoying, isn't it?I've just been bothering you ever since you got here, never letting you have time for yourself. And even if I weren't, I'm not the type of person you'd want to hang out with. I'm not interesting, or funny, or cute, or anything that would make you want to talk with me. And on top of that..."

Church was surprised that so much depressive speech was being spoken by Nowa of all people. It was even weirder than it would normally be because she was laughing and smiling just a few moments ago. Church didn't really know how to deal with this situation. He didn't know if this counted as a girl telling him about her feelings, but he had never had to deal with that before. What should he say? He didn't really know how to comfort people, least of all women. He had always been a little awkward, and he was afraid of worsening the current state by saying something stupid.

Now Nowa had kept talking after Church zoned out, so he missed whatever she had said, but he noticed that she now looked even more miserable. Something about it made him want to comfort her in some way, even if he didn't know what to say. Seeing people so sad always played hell with his conscious, even if it wasn't his fault.

He was about to tell Nowa that she was wrong, and that he enjoyed her company, when the sound of someone else approaching stopped him short. Of course, only one other person knew about this pool, so Church could already guess who it was. God, he hoped she wasn't naked too: not that he wouldn't love to see that, but because he might pass out from all the blood leaving his brain and going...'elsewhere'.

He looked towards the source of the approaching person to see just who he had expected. Fortunately, (Or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) Alleyne was still fully clothed, and it didn't look like she had any intention of getting in the pool with the two occupants it already had. She paused on the edge of the pool and flicked her eyes between Church and Nowa several times. She eventually stopped and cocked an eyebrow at Church, but refrained from saying anything, for which he was glad.

But the following awkward silence caused by her lack of speech made Church wish that she had said something, anything to avoid the weird moment being shared between the three. He really hoped Alleyne hadn't gotten the wrong idea about this situation...

Nowa broke the silence by finally asking the most obvious question. "What is it, Captain? We still have fifteen minutes left!"

Alleyne glanced at Nowa and gave her a fleeting grin, but from Church's angle, it didn't seem like one of those grins or smiles that means something good. Church was pretty good at reading people's expressions, since he had been trained to locate certain targets and hostiles by doing so, and the look on Alleyne's face said that she was hiding something bad.

The elf captain returned her gaze to Church, but unlike with Nowa, she was frowning at him. He couldn't help but feel that she was judging something about him, although he didn't know what. And she still hadn't answered Nowa's question. Did she have something to say or was she just going to stand there and analyze him?

Church was getting a little nervous under her penetrating stare, so he tried to at least get her to talk. "Is something wrong, Alleyne? You haven't said anything..."

Alleyne just sighed and rubbed her forehead for a moment before answering. "Yes, something is wrong. Very wrong, it's just..."

She paused for a moment and rested her gaze on Church again. But this time, it didn't seem as searching as it did sad. "I won't bother you with it for now. Just... finish up here and then come back. No extra break time."

And with that she turned and walked back the way she had come. Church didn't know what, but something was wrong. Very wrong indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>OK, so I actually shortened this chapter considerably because I know I haven't updated in a long time, thanks to exams and all. But now that summer is here for me, I have a lot more free time. And I have a question for you readers; do you think Airi should be the only person Church couldwould have a romantic relationship with, or should there be a few others? (Guess who?) Anyway, we'll be introducing Echidna soon, as well as the story's first real combat section, so let's look forward to that!  
><strong>


	8. Faded Memories

**Fortunately for you, it didn't take long for me to revamp all of the previous chapters, so I can go ahead and write the eleventh chapter, where we have our first bout of deep plot! **

**Also, I didn't get a lot of answers to the last chapter's question, and I really need some reader feedback for this; should or shouldn't Airi be the only love interest available for Church? Seriously, I really want all of your opinions on this. It is one of the biggest factors to story development! Either PM or Review or something, Please!**

* * *

><p>Two weeks. Two weeks was all she had to turn this half-elf hybrid into something that resembled a warrior. A daunting task for sure. After all, Echidna didn't work well with others and this boy was clumsy. Not to mention terribly incompetent at just about any type of fighting. All in all, he was totally useless.<p>

Echidna eyed the ten-year old boy haphazardly swinging a training sword out in the rain. His hands were bleeding from gripping the wooden handle for the last six hours, as were his bare feet from grinding on the rough ground. The boy never quit, she would at least give him that. But why? Why did he try so hard? What were his reasons? Even the two-week time period had been set by the boy himself, not her. But why...?

"Sis!"

Echidna's train of thought was interrupted by the boy's misused name for her. "What?"

The boy dropped his sword to the ground, panting heavily, and looking about as miserable as a dejected puppy. "Am I doing good, Sis? Am I getting better?"

Echidna smiled despite trying her hardest not to. The boy was endearing, she'd give him that as well. She walked out into the rain next to her unofficial apprentice and patted him on the head. "Sure thing Lucas. You're doing great."

She wasn't quite sure why, but that made him smile like nothing she had ever said to him before. And something about that bright smile made her happier than it probably should have.

* * *

><p>As Alleyne's short tale came to a close, Church found himself glad he had asked the woman about her old acquaintances. Currently, she was telling him about a kid that had once lived in this forest, though he had left some time ago.<p>

"So how long ago was that?"

Church posed the question just to be sure: the way Alleyne described it, all of this had taken place quite some time ago.

She responded quickly, almost as though she hadn't even really thought about the answer. Church couldn't help but wonder if the Elven captain planned out all of her conversations beforehand.

"Not as long as you think. It was within the last decade."

Within the last decade? She said that like it was nothing. Church wondered if she knew that a decade was about half of his lifespan: a lot could happen in ten years, but Alleyne spoke of it more like hours. He gazed out at the forest from the treetop perch he had found Alleyne brooding on. Luckily, he had become pretty good at climbing trees since he had arrived in this expansive forest.

A question he hadn't thought of asking yet popped into his mind. "Hey, Alleyne?"

"Hm?"

He truly wondered if he should ask a woman this kind of thing. "How old are you, exactly?"

She glanced at him with a strange look in her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

Church didn't really want to tell her why, so as usual, he fell back to contingency plan #1: bullshitting his way through. "Well, it's just that I do end up spending a lot of time around you, since you help me and all, so I thought I should at least know a little bit about you. If you're comfortable with it, that is."

The elf looked away and replied nonchalantly. "A thousand."

"Excuse me?"

She returned her penetrating gaze to Church. "A thousand. My age. I'm a thousand years old, give or take a few years."

Church just stared at her blankly. A thousand? Like... one, zero, zero, zero? Nearly _one hundred times _his own age? "R-really...Uh...Wow."

Alleyne cocked an eyebrow at him. "Does that bother you?"

Afraid that he had insulted her, Church quickly thought of a way to salvage the conversation. "N-no... I just didn't think someone as beautiful as you would have lived so long, that's all!"

It took Church a moment to realize what he had just said to her. He glanced over at Allaeyne to see if she had caught the word beautiful in that sentence. She was looking away from him, so he couldn't really see her face, but he did see just a little bit of blush on the side of her cheeks. He really hoped he hadn't overstepped his boundaries or anything.

But if Alleyne was bothered by it, it didn't show. She merely responded to his previous awkward statement with a strange lack of emotion. "We elves live a long time. By our standards, I am still fairly young: about twenty-nine or thirty in human years."

"Ah...I see." Church couldn't think of anything better to say.

Thinking he might recover from this awkward moment by rerouting the conversation to its original topic, Church brought the conversation full circle. "So this Lucas kid...do you know where he is now?"

Alleyne's voice was as steady as always, but her face showed a deep sadness as she replied. "No. After his village was destroyed, he left the forest for some undefined reason. Revenge, most likely."

Church was slightly confused by this. "Destroyed? What happened? Besides, I thought Syr, Syrin..."

"Syrinidell."

"Right. I thought Syrinidell was the only village in the forest?"

Alleyne gave him a look that said, 'that was a stupid assumption' as she answered. "This forest is quite massive. In fact, it covers almost the entire central region of this continent. Assuming there is only one village is quite..."

"Stupid?" Church interrupted.

She glared at him, perhaps offended that Church had though she would say such a thing. "I wasn't going to say that."

"But you were thinking it?" He retorted.

"No."

Now there was even more silence between the two. Church was a little worried: his previous conversations with Alleyne had always been lighthearted and smooth. This was...tense. "Look, if this is a subject you don't want to talk about..."

She waved off the rest of his sentence. "No, no...it's fine. I really do enjoy talking to you Church. You are very...interesting."

Church wasn't exactly sure what she meant by that. "I-interesting?"

This time she looked directly at him as she spoke. "Yes. Interesting."

As much as Church liked looking directly into her eyes, it was also kind of unnerving. Alleyne had a very powerful gaze, whether it was intentional or not. He decided to once again return to the original subject. "So what about the village?"

The blonde looked away from him again and back out into the trees. Perhaps she found it easier to talk about the past when she looked out into the distance like that? "How about I start from the beginning? Although I myself don't know the whole story."

"Sure."

Alleyne flicked her sapphire eyes over to him to make sure he was paying attention before she started. "Alright. I believe it was... twenty years ago. There used to be a human village near the northern outskirts of the forest, on the nearby plains of the continent. They never really bothered us: yes, they cut down a few trees on the rim of the forest, but we knew that was necessary, so we tolerated it and left the humans alone."

"Unfortunately, the village was attacked by a notorious group of raiders that used to roam that area. We've long since dealt with them, but at the time, we refused to involve ourselves with human affairs at all. The village was destroyed, and we didn't discover it until a few days after the attack. The entire populace had been slaughtered, save for one woman, a young teenage girl, who was just barely alive."

Church wondered just how long this story would be. Of course, he didn't mind just sitting next to Alleyne and listening to her. She did have a beautiful voice, after all.

"So we brought her back here to Syrinidell: only so she could rest and then leave, but at the time, there were no other nearby human settlements and nowhere she could go. Besides, she was very grateful for our aid, and was always trying to help around the village, so we allowed her to stay. She was the only human to truly reside with us in centuries."

Church interrupted with a quick question. "Did you know her?"

Alleyne shifted her gaze away from whatever tree she had been staring at, a little thrown off by the interruption in her story. "Yes. Well, I knew her, but not personally, no."

"I see. Sorry, continue."

She nodded and returned her gaze to where it had previously been. "She stayed with us for roughly five years, and at some point in that time, she fell in love with one of the elves here, a man by the name of Elwindl. Although everyone knows about it now, we didn't then: she and Elwindl kept their love a secret. In that fifth year, the two of them brought forth a child, much to the surprise of the village, considering that none of us were aware of their relationship."

Not incompetent with observation himself, Church found it easy to guess who that baby was. "And that was Lucas, right?"

She nodded. "Exactly. Of course, the council did not approve of his birth. They are completely anti-human, and despise half-elves with human blood in them. The only thing that kept them in check after Lucas' birth was the will of the villagers. That's the only thing even now, actually."

Church speculated on this. "They don't want me here, do they? I don't need to worry about being stabbed in my sleep, right?"

Alleyne gave a small laugh. "No. Not even they would try something like that." Then she gave him a look that could almost be described as sly. "Besides, if they did, I would protect you, Church. After all, I cannot allow anyone to harm my guest, now can I?"

Church didn't know how to take that comment. "B-back to the story now..."

He thought he might of heard a very slight giggle just then, so small it may have been completely imaginary. Even if it was, it was certainly a wonderful sound...

It was difficult to tell, since Alleyne did not seem like the kind of person to 'giggle'. Furthermore, she was serious again in a heartbeat, leading Church to believe that he really had just imagined her reaction. "Right, back to the story. After giving birth to Lucas, his mother fell terribly ill. Soon after, Elwindl left her, bribed by the council and convinced that his wife was already dead anyway."

"That's terrible."

Alleyne sighed. "Indeed. However, Elwindl was right. Just a few days after he left, Lucas' mother died. For eight years after that, the little half-elf, half-human baby was kept under the care of various...nannies, if you will. He never truly got attached to any of them. By either pure coincidence or unfortunate circumstance, he was just old enough when it came time for me to choose an apprentice."

Church already knew were this was going. "Let me guess. It was between Lucas and-"

She finished for him. "Nowa. And you already know who I chose."

"But why her? What made Nowa a better choice than Lucas?"

The question seemed to give Alleyne pause. "A better choice...? Perhaps she wasn't. Truthfully, I think Lucas may have made a better apprentice. He was more focused, more determined...but also more hateful. After I chose Nowa, he despised the council, he despised me, and most of all he despised his father. The one who deserted him."

"What about after that? After he lost out to Nowa, did someone else take him in?"

Alleyne nodded her affirmation. "Yes, though not by who I would've expected. It was a friend: well, I wouldn't say friend, exactly. That woman is a disgrace. Anyway, it was another elf from Calibara in the south named Echidna. She took Lucas in after I didn't, though she never did say why. This is where the story gets less detailed, as I know little of the exact happenings after this. Echidna trained Lucas for the next four years, until he was twelve. I know that Lucas looked up to Echidna as though she were a big sister to him, but I don't know if she felt the same. Either way, she disappeared on him after those four years. After that abandonment, Lucas was found by a man who I believe he now sees as his step-father. This man took Lucas to his own village elsewhere in the forest, and Lucas has lived there ever since. Until it was destroyed, at the very least."

Church absorbed every bit of information he could. He vaguely recalled meeting someone named Lucas recently, but he couldn't remember where or how. Maybe his tumble down the mountainside had done more damage than he thought... "And so we come full circle. How was his village destroyed?"

Church could see small traces of anger in Alleyne's features, but she was as composed as always. "By a servant of the Swamp Witch, a powerful entity that rules the land northeast of Syrinidell. This servant razed the village and the surrounding forest, only to be fought off by Nowa and some..._other _assistance."

"She must have been pretty powerful to do so much damage. What was she?"

"A wraith."

Church mentally added that term to his ever growing list of mythical creatures he had never thought existed. Elves, witches, and now 'wraiths' too. "You mean like a ghost?"

"Hmm...they are similar, but a wraith has more of a physical presence."

Church figured he had a lot of learning to do, if even the afterlife creatures had such distinctions. "I see. Did you ever find out who it was?"

"Yes. Like I said, it was the foremost of the servants of the Swamp Witch, a wraith named A-"

Church couldn't catch the name as a voice from below interrupted their conversation. One he recognized as Nowa. "Captain! Elder Taowrol said he needs to see you!"

Alleyne motioned to Nowa that she was coming and gave Church a fleeting glance before leaping from the tree branch the two of them were sitting on. She called back up to him from the ground beside her apprentice. "You can do whatever you'd like now, Church! I'll be back later."

He waved down to his two elven friends. "Alright! I'll see you back at your place!"

As the two trotted off, Church wished that Alleyne had at least helped him down. It was already a long climb up, never mind going back the other way.

* * *

><p>Church once again submerged himself in the secluded pool away from the main village. He was truly grateful that Alleyne and Nowa had told him about it, although honestly, Nowa had told him first and Alleyne had just gone along with it. But nevertheless, he was grateful.<p>

As his head sunk slowly under the water, so did Church's mind sink into a type of ignorant bliss, as he completely lost focus on his surroundings and retreated into his own thoughts. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but when it was interrupted, the ex-solider noticed that the sun had sunk quite a bit lower than it had been. He wasn't sure what had disturbed him either. Maybe it was that sense of unease at the base of his skull, that slight tingling that signaled something was amiss.

Either way, he was no longer comfortable in the pool, so Church proceeded to exit it and dress himself, though he felt even more wary as he finished doing so. He didn't know what was amiss, but something was definitely off...

"You know, I'm not really all that fond of men, but even I have to admit that you're pretty cute. Maybe Alleyne's finally learning to appreciate people in the looks department?"

Rather than focusing on the words themselves, Church analyzed the voice before even turning to face its source. Female. Middle-aged. About fifteen feet behind him and two feet to his left. With his own protection in mind, Church grabbed a good fist-sized rock from the ground and prepared for a vital first-shot at someone he could already tell was not his friend.

"Surely you aren't going to throw a rock at me? You can't really think that's going to work..."

Church didn't really know whether it was going to work or not, but anything was worth a shot. If he caught her off guard...

He spun around and side-armed his projectile right at the woman, not even taking the time to look at her appearance. He simply located her position and let loose. Fortunately, his aim when throwing just about anything was solid. The rock flew at his target's face before Church could even see whose face it was.

The rock flew straight and true, crossing the distance between the two of them mere seconds. The impact would certainly break a bone or two... had the rock not been caught in his target's hand. The mysterious woman had caught the projectile mere inches from her face. Now Church used to play baseball pretty seriously, and everyone back home knew him as the fastball master. That rock had been flying, at the minimal, at least seventy miles per hour, and she had caught it barehanded!

The woman lowered her hand and tossed the makeshift projectile into the pool beside her, allowing Church to get a good look at her for the first time in the thirty seconds he had known her. Quite a strange woman, for sure. Almost as strange as Melona, but he didn't think anyone could tie with his pink friend in that category.

She had green hair tied into a ponytail, although her bangs were significantly lighter. Her eyes were a dark crimson, which struck Church as unusual in itself. She was clearly an elf, with long pointed ears, but they seemed different from Alleyne's somehow, and her skin was far more tan than either of the elves Church had fraternized with. Like nearly every woman he had met so far, she was scantily clad in a white vest with scaly green pauldrons that left little of her cleavage to the imagination. She wore long white thigh high boots as well, and wrapped around her waist was what honest-to-god looked like a snake. Christ, what was wrong with this world? She grinned at him, but it reminded him of the first time Melona had smiled at him. Like he more of an object than a person.

The strange woman spoke first. "Okay, I'll admit, that was pretty impressive. It never would have worked, but at least you've got one hell of an arm on you. A for effort."

Church took a few steps towards the elven woman, shortening the distance between them considerably. "Who the hell are you? I can tell already that you aren't here for pleasantries."

The snake around the woman's waist hissed at him, proving that it was indeed alive. Did she have nothing on at all under that thing? "Now that's rude of you. After all, you threw a rock at me before even saying hello. Isn't it ironic for you to talk about pleasantries?"

Church unconsciously took another step towards the woman. He didn't know why: it didn't feel like he had acted of his own volition.

Whatever the reason for his one step, it brough Church dangerously close to his adversary. As he came nearer, the elf rushed him, seemingly covering ten steps in the time it took Church to cover one. Whoever this woman was, she was blindingly fast, as she had gone from ten feet in front of him to just behind him in the blink of an eye. Before Church even knew what was going on, he was pinned to the ground, one arm near its breaking point in his assailant's iron grip, and the other arm bracing himself, keeping his face from tasting the dirt.

The woman ran a finger along the side of Church's face, confident that he was subdued and unable to resist. "You can throw, but you aren't very fast are you? You're more of a long-range fighter. Too bad I'm already this close then, huh?"

Church could feel his arm bending in painfully wrong directions as his attacker twisted it. No doubt she was tearing muscle and stressing bone. He could barely grunt out a response through the pain. "W-who are you?"

The woman laughed just a little at his question. "Are you really in any position to be asking questions, considering that I'm on top? Hm...but I will tell you one thing. Your friends, those two who you're living with right now, are in some serious danger."

"What do you me-!"

The woman twisted his arm again to silence him. "Let me finish. They're in danger, but there is a way to protect them. In two weeks, meet me in front of the council gardens. We'll fight there. And since you're so slow, I'll even give you a little handicap. All you have to do to win is touch me. If you can do that, then they'll be left alone. You'll be there, won't you?"

Church grunted. "Of course I will."

She then released his arm and began to walk back towards the trees. But after a few steps, she stopped and glanced back at Church. "Oh, right: I'm Echidna in case you were wondering. See you in two weeks, if you do actually show up."

Church just watched as the woman walked back into the trees.

_Echidna huh...I get the feeling you're going to be a huge problem in the future... but there's no way I can back down now!_

* * *

><p><strong>Boom, longest chapter yet. Only by about 400 words, but still. Anyway, we finally have some action starting next Chapter! And Airi and Melona are almost back! Alright! Anyway...enjoy this chapter for awhile.<strong>


	9. Calm Before the Storm

**OK so, I don't really have anything better to do right now, so here comes the next chapter, making its debut far earlier than it usually would. Anyway, this is our first chapter with serious combat! Albeit one-sided combat between a veteran mercenary and our favorite unlucky cripple, but still combat. Besides, we've had what, eleven chapters with no action? And for those of you who are missing part of our original group, we'll be getting Airi and Melona back soon. Of course, that means they'll have to trade off with Alleyne and Nowa, so, a few of you might prefer it if they didn't return... TOO BAD FOR YOU! And I will now cease my pointless rambling and get on with it already...**

* * *

><p>"So you actually plan on showing up?"<p>

Church merely glanced at the wall of the room he was in, sitting on the same bed he had first awoken in within this massive forest. He did his best to avoid Alleyne's eyes as she wrapped his sprained arm into a sling. She had never yelled at him before, until today. In fact, he had never seen her angry at all, and he was wishing he didn't have to see it now.

He made no reply as the elf captain finished his arm immobilizing sling, and his silence persisted as she stood and rubbed her forehead with one hand.

"Do you have any idea how stupid it is to do this?"

Church believed he was justified in his reply to last night's mysterious attacker, and he thought he should say so. "Echidna challenged me-!"

Alleyne interrupted him before he could go any further. "Echidna baited you, Church!"

Church almost physically recoiled from the anger emanating from the woman. She was truly scary when she was mad. Church averted his gaze, uncomfortable looking right at her. As she noticed his reaction to her outburst, Alleyne looked away from him and sighed.

"Look, it's not...I mean I'm not..." Alleyne kept pausing as she struggled to get her sentence out. Sighing again, she massaged the side of her head, and Church wondered if all of this was giving her headache. In fact, he wondered if that was all he was to her: a headache. A bother, or a nuisance...

"Church."

His dismal train of thought was interrupted by Alleyne's voice, and he looked towards her. But instead of seeing that uncomfortable anger in her eyes, he saw something...else. Something he couldn't quite place. But whatever it was held his gaze, and for the moment, the two looked right into each others eyes, two shades of blue, one deep and the other icy, staring right into each other.

Alleyne continued. "I'm not mad at you, Church. I'm just..." She broke eye contact with him here and looked to the side, as though she were embarrassed about what she was about to say. "I'm just worried about you. I don't think-I mean, I wouldn't... I would be very sad if something were to happen to you. That's all."

_Oh. That's why she looked embarrassed... _To be honest, Church was embarrassed just to hear her say that. Did she really care about him that much? Enough that she would actually be angry at him for putting himself in danger?

"May I ask...why it would make you sad?"

Church watched her reaction, and Alleyne first gave him a look of surprise, before blushing a bit and turning away from him again. He thought it was cute, a grown woman blushing like that, and funny that he was the cause of it.

"It's just that... well... Nowa has become fond of you, and if something bad happened, she would be sad... and if my student is unhappy so am I."

Church almost burst out laughing at that ridiculously stuttered excuse. Maybe Alleyne wasn't a good liar? But he had a feeling she wanted to avoid the subject, so he dropped it, creating an awkward silence. Well, awkward for Alleyne, not for Church, who was still inwardly making fun of the elf.

But Alleyne caught his attention once she started speaking again, and she had returned to her usual serious self. "I don't suppose you'll consider backing down?"

Church looked at his still movable hand as he thought of his attacker last night. Echidna had toyed with him, and he just couldn't stand the thought of accepting her challenge and then running away, even though his instincts told him to. As a sniper, one of the rules of his profession was to never directly engage the enemy. That was exactly what he was going to do.

He looked back towards Alleyne. "No. I won't surrender. I know I hardly have a chance, but I won't give her the satisfaction of knowing I ran."

Alleyne gave him a half-smile, half-grimace. She admired Church's fighting spirit, but not his foolishness. "Well then...we'd best start preparing for it." She held out her hand to help him up. "Shall we?"

If he dared say no, what would her reaction be? It didn't require much thought on Church's part to decide that he would rather not find out. "Yes we shall."

* * *

><p>"This is not what we agreed on!"<p>

Echidna made no reply, merely checking her nails as she waited out Elder Taowrol's rant.

"You were supposed to capture or kill the human there! What was so hard about that? Now we have to wait, change the plan, and deal with the entire village knowing about the affair, because you thought it would be fun! And furthermore..."

What a long-winded man. Echidna tuned him out as he continued ranting about incompetence and failure and whatnot. Truthfully, she had never actually planned on killing or capturing the boy, at least not at the time the council wanted. She hadn't even agreed to do all of this because it was what the council wanted: she had her own reasons for starting a fight with the human. Two, actually. First off, she wanted to know why Alleyne had taken such an interest in the man. The blonde usually refrained from dealing with outsiders unless it was to get them to leave the forest. The second was a bit more personal...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very irritating voice that was growing loud enough that Echidna could no longer ignore it. She glanced at Elder Taowrol, who was obviously done ranting and now trying to regain her attention. What an annoyance. Then again, almost all men were just annoyances, useless as they were. They weren't good for anything; fighting, sex, intelligent conversation, the list went on forever.

"Are you even listening to me?"

This time Echidna actually granted the bearded man a response. "Not really, no. Was there something you needed?"

Elder Taowrol's entire face went red with rage. "You insolent...how dare you speak to me in such a way! Have you forgotten that I am the leader of this village!?"

Echidna waved her hand dismissively as she turned to leave the Council chambers. "Sure you are, Pops. Look, I'm going to leave now: I came all the way here to relax, and I'm still going to do just that. Later."

If Elder Taowrol had gotten any redder, he may have been mistaken for a tomato.

* * *

><p>Church was almost panting as he leaned against one of the forest's many grand trees. He vaguely remembered being this exhausted after the selection test for The Legion. And that had been a combination of all the most strenuous training programs the militant countries of the world had to offer.<p>

One would think that with all of that physical training, Church would be in fantastic shape, but that was five years ago, and as a sniper, he had spent most of his career laying down and not sprinting across battlefields. Even though that was the case, Church was still pretty fit, being a soldier and all. Still, Alleyne was pushing him really hard with all of this exercise and physical training and stuff. He was pretty sure that he hadn't gotten any more than a thirty minute break in the last six hours.

Alleyne came to sit next to him as he rested. "I think we can stop for today. You seem exhausted."

Church struggled to respond between his gasping. "Heh...no kidding...but seriously...isn't this...a bit much?"

His companion responded almost instantly. "Not even close. You should be doing three times this much, and only that little because any more would kill you."

Church looked at her incredulously. "Only that little? Are you telling me Nowa has to do this everyday?"

Alleyne smiled. "No, definitely not. She would collapse under so much stress. I'm only pushing you this hard because we have only two weeks before the fight."

Church figured now was a good time to ask some questions. "This woman I'm fighting...could you tell me some more about her?"

Alleyne sighed. "I wish I couldn't tell you as much as I can. Really, that woman is a complete disgrace."

Church could tell Alleyne really didn't like Echidna too much. She had already called her a disgrace twice. "I take it you know her more personally than you would like?"

Alleyne grinned slightly, but it wasn't the kind she had when the two of them talked about more enjoyable subjects. "Yes, that about sums it up. The woman who attacked you last night is: well, used to be, a friend of mine. And even though I say that, our friendship was sketchy at best."

"Is this going to be a long story? Your last one cramped my legs something terrible."

This time Alleyne smiled genuinely. "Are you saying I talk too much?"

Church smiled too. "Oh no, I'd be much too scared to make fun of a scary elf like you."

The two of them laughed together, and Alleyne thought she'd keep the jokes going a little longer. "You really aren't all that fond of us elves are you?"

Church thought carefully about his answer. "Hm...there's one or two that I like. I think I might feel something a little more for one of them though."

Church had meant it to be a sort of flirtatious comment, and it would seem that he had succeeded. Alleyne turned away from him, hiding her reaction, although Church already knew what it was.

"B-back to the story, please..."

Church wondered if he had overstepped his boundaries. He was pretty sure Alleyne would forgive him, but he was kind of mad at himself for upsetting her. "Right, back to the story."

Another awkward silence, much like the ones the two of them had shared before, followed the exchange. These were getting far too frequent lately. Maybe Church should just keep the comments basic for awhile. The more he pushed his luck...

"Are you listening?"

Church snapped back to attention at the sound of Alleyne's voice. "Huh? Oh, umm...I zoned out for a minute there, sorry. You were saying?"

Church was glad Alleyne didn't dwell on such situations for long. He had known too many people that would remain silent for nearly an hour after an awkward moment.

"The woman who attacked you: you know already that her name in Echidna."

Church remembered hearing that name in one of their previous conversations. "I don't suppose that would be the same Echidna from your story the other day?"

"Indeed. One and the same, unfortunately. She's sort of...bizarre, wouldn't you say?"

Church barely held back a laugh. It was weird for Alleyne to say something like that. She usually kept her opinions to herself. "Yeah. Bizarre might be putting it lightly."

Alleyne grinned at him, amused that Church agreed with her so readily. He was glad she allowed him to be this friendly with her. These long weeks in the forest would have been much harder to endure otherwise. "Anyway, Echidna doesn't reside in the forest anymore. She did for a brief while, mind you, but that was a very long time ago. She has spent the last couple of centuries as a mercenary, working for pay or favors or whatever she decides she wants. Needless to say, all of those hundreds of years of fighting have made her quite the deadly warrior. Few have met her in combat and survived."

Church made a joke at what probably wasn't the best time. "Guess we can add me to the list of survivors now, huh?"

His joke elicited no smiles this time. "Only because she wanted you alive for later. Echidna is ruthless: had she wanted to kill you, she definitely could have. Please don't take this situation lightly."

Church sighed. "This is some deep trouble I've gotten myself into, isn't it?"

Alleyne crossed her arms and sighed right along with him. "Yes, it is."

Another silence followed, but this one wasn't awkward: it was more of a mutual understanding that they both wanted quiet for the moment. This lasted for a good ten minutes before Church decided to break the silence with a question that he'd been wanting to ask for awhile now. "What's your favorite thing about this forest, Alleyne?"

The elven beauty cast a sidelong glance his way. "That's a most unexpected question. Why do you ask?"

This time Church didn't have to lie: he was genuinely interested. "Well, you've lived here for a very long time: surely there is something about this place that you like the most. Like a certain tree, or that pool that only you and Nowa know about, or..."

"Cherries."

Church kept talking for another moment or two before realizing Alleyne had answered his question. "Cherries?"

Alleyne looked at him curiously, perhaps eager to see his reaction . "Do you find that weird?"

Church wondered why Alleyne asked him that all the time. She had asked him if her words and answers were weird, bothersome, or strange many times.  
>Every time he asked about her about something personal, she responded that way, as if here answers weren't normal.<p>

"Not really, no. But what about cherries? I haven't actually seen any around here..."

Alleyne cocked an eyebrow at him, as though the reason they were her favorite thing about the forest was obvious. "Well, they don't actually grow around Syrinidell as a whole. There is a special grove near the area where I grew up -needless too say it is very old- and it is one of the only places in the forest where cherries grow naturally. I guess that growing up with them made them my favorite."

Church thought of something his sister used to make with cherries. Well, he liked it better with chocolate, but it was originally a recipe with cherries. "I don't suppose you like sweets, do you, Alleyne?"

The elf twirled her braid as she answered. "Well, technically I should not eat such unhealthy things, but I do indulge myself every once in awhile."

Church wasn't exactly sure how up to par his culinary skills were, but his sister had forced him to learn the recipe himself since he loved it so much. He figured he remembered enough to make some for Alleyne, provided she supplied the cherries and this place had adequate cooking devices.

"OK then, if I make you some sweets, will you promise to at least try them?"

She looked at him warily. "When you say it like that, it almost sounds dangerous to make that promise."

Church feigned injured pride. "If you were trying to ruin our friendship in a single sentence, mission accomplished."

Alleyne laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I had no idea you were so easily offended. I guess I can try one or two, if you promise they won't poison me."

Church winked at her. "Couldn't poison the fair lady now could I? Seriously though, I promise that I'm pretty good. So you'll try one at least: deal?"

Alleyne smiled at him, not quite sure why she felt so content right now, but glad she did all the same. "Deal."

* * *

><p>"How did we find out about this guy anyway?"<p>

Hachiel wondered how little her blue-haired friend even knew about Heaven, considering she lived there. "We are agents of Heaven, Nanael: getting information isn't so difficult."

The two angels hovered above the great expanse of trees on the continent known as Syrinidell to its inhabitants. They were well aware that the person they were looking for was somewhere inside. Usually finding him in such a massive area would be difficult, but the only place the eyes of Heaven couldn't see into was those fetid swamps under the Witch's domain. That said, this forest was no exception, and locating this man 'Church' had been easy.

"So were is he right now?"

Hachiel sighed and eyed her friend. "Weren't you listening to me earlier? I already went over all of this!"

Nanael waved her off. "Of course I was listening! But uh... refresh yourself with the details anyway: you probably need them."

Hachiel face-palmed. "Just when and how did we become friends anyway?"

* * *

><p>Two weeks were passing a lot faster than Church had hoped. There was only five more days until he waltzed to his death because of his pride. On the bright side, he did feel more... 'empowered' since Alleyne started her two-week crash course. Then again, she had hardly trained him with any weapons. How did she expect him to do anything against Echidna without any weapon skills?<p>

Church was thinking about all of this whilst sitting on one of the roots of the massive trees that made up the bulk of this forest. Surprisingly, he still didn't know what type of trees they were. Maybe he'd ask Alleyne or Nowa later...

"Hi, Church!"

The brooding soldier shifted from his thinking position so he could turn to face the cheery voice behind him. "Hey, Nowa. Need something?"

The half-elf, half-human girl plopped down onto the root beside him with a smile. "Nope. I just wanted to talk for a little while."

Church smiled back at her. No matter how serious he had been, Nowa's cheerfulness was infectious. "Well I'm always happy to talk with you, Nowa. What do you want to talk about anyway?"

Nowa's usually cheerful personality quickly turned serious. "Well...it's about the Captain..."

Church wondered what it could be. Obviously, seeing as it was what she wanted to talk about, he would find out. "What about the C-"

"Do you like her?"

The unexpected question hit Church like a train. "W-w-were did that come from? What kind of question is that?"

nowa tilted her head and looked at him quizzically. "A good one, that's what kind. So? Do you like her or not?"

Church avoided the true intent of her question: hopefully Nowa wasn't actually asking about his romantic interests. "Of course I like her. After, all, she's been taking care of me ever since I got here. She's a really great friend..."

Nowa punched him in the shoulder. "That's not what I mean! What I meant was...do you like her as a woman?"

Church blushed furiously as he seriously thought about the question. Yes, he did really like her in a romantic kind of way. How could he not? She was beautiful and smart and kind and everythign he could ask for in a girl, besides being a little too stoic. But he also liked Airi too. Liking two girls in the same way already made him feel like a sleaze... Besides, Alleyne was like, a thousand right? There was no way she didn't already have somebody on her mind...

"I-I'm sure that Alleyne already has someone..."

Nowa frowned at him. "Huh? The Captain doesn't have anybody, Church. She isn't very fond of romantic stuff. Well, that's what Echidna says."

Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't know that you knew Echidna. You're not friendlier with her than Alleyne is, are you?"

Nowa scratched her head. "Not really. The Captain says that she's a disgrace, and that I shouldn't be around her. That seems kinda harsh, but then again... Echidna's kind of scary: I don't think I would spend a lot of time with her anyway."

Church knew that was true. Echidna was definitely scary. After all, she had subdued him in a matter of seconds, possibly less. And even if she had a centuries of experience, it really angered Church that he could be defeated so easily. And so back to his original problem: how the hell was he supposed to fight a veteran mercenary like her with no real combat training? All Alleyne had him doing was vigorous exercise. How was that supposed to help, besides letting him be punched maybe once or twice more than usual before passing out?

Church rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to ease his by now aching brain. He had always taken the easiest solution to his problems. He had never run away, no, but always the easiest solution that got the job done. And besides, the problem wasn't his fight with Echidna: it was just that he was so _weak._ He was in shape, he was smart, he was a deadly soldier back home... but without a gun, he was useless. He was a sharpshooter, not a martial artist.

Even Nowa, whom although did have some skill, was just an apprentice, and she could easily beat him. Those drunkards he had encountered back when he had first met Airi and Melona had pounded him into a pulp. Why was it that he was unable to fight without being at a distance? What was his problem? Sure, he had a weak leg, but there were people with far greater disabilities that could get around them: and yet he couldn't. Was he inferior? Or was he a coward? Was the reason he was so incompetent in combat and good at sniping because he was afraid to tangle with the enemy? Because he was scared of getting hurt? Why...

"Hey, Church?"

Again, his thoughts were interrupted by someone calling his name. That seemed to happen a lot. Maybe he just had a fun name to say. "Yes?"

Nowa looked at him worriedly. "You seemed bothered by something. Is everything OK?"

Church laughed, but it was forced. "No. No, everything is not okay. Definitely not okay. I'm lost in a world I don't belong in, I'm surrounded by people I don't know, I'm separated from my family, my friends, and my home, my life may be in danger, and I can't even keep my damn head on straight!"

Church noticed as he finished his spiel that Nowa had shifted away from him a bit. He realized now that there had been more anger in his voice than he had intended. Of course, he wasn't angry at Nowa, but since she was the one he was talking to, maybe she thought his anger was directed towards her.

"I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you Nowa, please don't think that. I'm mad at myself, really."

Sincere confusion was the only thing Nowa had to offer in return. "But why? There's no reason to be mad at yourself..."

Church was careful to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "It's just... I mean I'm... I'm just useless." There was silence between the two of them, and Nowa didn't look like she was about to speak up, so Church continued. "I mean honestly, I can't do anything myself anymore. I always need help, no matter what the problem is. I'm clumsy, I'm always getting into trouble, if it wasn't for you and Alleyne I'd be dead right now, and I'm always stressing out the people who are trying to help me, which, if I were better, they wouldn't need to do." Even though he had tried, Church knew his anger had still seeped into his words. Nowa was looking down at her feet, clearly uncomfortable.

He was about to apologize again when she muttered something he couldn't make out. "What? I didn't hear you."

This time Nowa looked up at him and raised her voice a little. "I-I said...I don't think you're useless. I don't think that's true at all."

Church stared at her blankly. That wasn't what he had expected to hear.

Nowa noticed that he wasn't going to say anything, so she decided to continue. "You may not be the best when it comes to fighting or physical stuff...but I think you have strengths elsewhere. You're... um, well I think that you're very kind. And that is definitely something useful. You probably can't tell, but the Captain is happier than she's been in a long time. And I think it's because of you. Because she enjoys your company. And I know that...I'm happy when you're around too. I think that is your strength; making others happy. And that's way better than being a good fighter, or being strong or tough or anything like that. I'd much rather trade what I can do for what you can do. Even though I want to, I can't make the Captain smile and laugh like you can..."

Church knew the little teenager's pep talk was taking a turn for the worse. She was starting to point out her own shortcomings. That never ended well. Besides, she had just made him feel way better, so now he had to do the same for her.

"That's not true, Nowa. You may not have noticed this, but you make Alleyne just as happy as I do. Just in a different way. Trust me, whenever I see the two of you together, Alleyne is always happy. She's just good at hiding it: maybe because she's embarrassed, or maybe she's just trying to maintain her image as your teacher... either way, you are just as good as me in that area."

Nowa cracked a wide smile. "See? I told you that you were good at making people happy. And now I just proved it!"

Church wondered if the half-elven girl had planned that out. "Wait, did you just con me into giving that speech just to prove your point? That's pretty low."

The girl kept right on smiling, totally unfazed. "Well it worked didn't it? I know I feel better! You really are good at this, aren't you?"

Church began to smile with her. "You are really a dastardly little girl. Alleyne doesn't act like that when I'm not around does she?"

Nowa responded cheerily. "No, she isn't like that. Which reminds me..." She moved closer to him and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You still haven't answered my first question! You thought I had forgotten, didn't you?"

Honestly, Church had thought she had forgotten. He had hoped so, at least. Of course, he wasn't going to answer, so instead he would employ a tactic that had thwarted his sister's nosy questions for years: ignoring her. As he stood up and began to walk back to Alleyne's hut/tree-house, he could feel Nowa staring at his back in annoyance: how dare he not answer one of her questions!

* * *

><p><strong>OK, so I know I planned on this chapter including more, but this is taking a lot longer than I'd hoped and I haven't been getting many hits for any of my stories at all. So for now, I'll cut this chapter off halfway, and make the next chapter include all of the action and whatnot. Thanks for reading and don't forget to give me some feedback.<strong>


	10. Rampancy

**Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum! As totally pointless and out of place that is, guess who's back? Well it could hardly be anyone else, but I'm kind of excited to finally get back to Fanfiction. I mean, after all this time, I was beginning to think my absence had jeopardized my relationship with you guys! (Not Really) **

***And a little note before starting- I just wanted to say that the idea of Nanael's role in this story belonged to MegaRaziel. I just wanted to thank him, because it was seriously a good idea. Kudos to him. And the few of you who review every few chapters or so; I really do appreciate you guys. However, I know that the 4,800 hits we've rocked so far have not been just that same group of people, so why is it always the same people who review? But anyway, I'm glad to be back, and I'm glad that there are enough readers to keep this thing alive.**

* * *

><p><strong>August 23rd, 2012<strong>

**Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) 02:40 Hours  
><strong>

**Squad Designation: Legionnaire-Omega 0x-S4 **

**Specter Protocol: IN EFFECT  
><strong>

**Military Presence Disavowed  
><strong>

**Chopper Designation...  
><strong>

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" Colonel Yakovich's voice was painfully loud in Church's ears. It had to be to actually be heard above the roar of the Black-Hawk chopper Omega team was riding in.

"WITHIN THE HOUR, ALL SIX OF YOU WILL BE DROPPED OFF AT ZONE ALPHA! ALL MISSION PARAMETERS WERE CLARIFIED IN THE BRIEFING. HOWEVER, LET ME REMIND YOU THAT YOUR PRESENCE HERE WILL BE DENIED BY YOUR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS SHOULD YOU BE CAPTURED! YOU KNOW WHAT THE EASIEST WAY TO AVOID THAT IS? DON'T GET SPOTTED! FINALLY, REMEMBER THAT EXTRACTION IS AT 0600 HOURS, NO EXCEPTIONS! YOU MAY NOW PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR DEPLOYMENT AS THE CHOPPER ARRIVES AT THE TARGET AREA. MAKE IT QUICK, PEOPLE!"

With that, the grizzled old man retreated into the cockpit of the chopper, leaving Church and his experimental squad-mates to prep for their first mission. Church, or 'Foxhole' as his new squad referred to him as, had already prepped for this operation, and instead observed his squad-mates doing so. Each of them was older than him. In fact, at only 15, Church must have been the youngest person ever enlisted to be a sniper. But then again, that was the point of The Legion. An experimental regiment that would possess all of the world's deadliest warriors, to keep peace where the government could not. Age was of no consequence. If you were the best at what you did, you were accepted.

Church didn't really think having such a natural gift at sharpshooting was really a 'gift' at all. After all, what would he tell others his natural talent was? Killing people? Looking them dead in the face just before sending them on a one-way trip to Hell? He felt sick just thinking about it. This was not what he had planned on doing with his life. Not before his parents had been killed, at the very least.

"Hey,Fox! You look kind of depressed over there! What's goin' on?"

Church glanced over at Brick, the African-American man who made it his personal duty to care for the squad. He was kind of the big brother figure of the group. He was also the oldest, at age thirty-seven, not that age mattered. The ex-drill sergeant was in perfect shape, and could easily outrun, outgun, and outfight anyone else here. Okay, well, Church had a pretty big gun of his own, so maybe they were evenly matched in that area.

"It's nothing, Brick. I'm just a little nervous, you know?"

Brick nodded sympathetically. "Oh yeah, I know. Trust me, back in Desert Storm, heck, I was scared out of my mind. Of course, I was new back then. Even now, I'm still a little scared. After all we're practically walking right into a area between two of the world's most hostile countries. If we get captured, we could start a really bad conflict."

Church sighed. Brick meant well, but he wasn't really helping him calm his nerves all that much. "Really bad might be just a bit of an understatement."

The voice of Omega squad's only female member interrupted their conversation. "Cut the chatter, you two. We have a job to do, and we'll get it done. No doubts on my team."

Diamond: the twenty-nine year-old Hawaiian woman believed she was in charge of everything, even though Wolf commanded the squad, not her. Unfortunately, Diamond was the third member of Bravo Team, along with Church and Brick. Wolf and the remaining two squad members would form Alpha. The two teams would be dropped at different locations to pursue separate objectives.

Brick shrugged and returned to his task of prepping for the mission. He was packing plenty of grenades, a few landmines, and several packs of C4: all of which would be unnecessary if the mission was properly executed.

Wolf signaled his five comrades, alerting them to the drop off time for Alpha Team. ETA, six minutes, forty-nine seconds. Church wondered if he would see these men, his brothers, again. Alpha had the more dangerous of the two objectives, and one of those three men was a very good friend of his. Church stood and put his hand on the shoulder of said man, Trickster. Of course, Church knew him as Kyle. Trickster fist-pounded Church, and then gave him a thumbs-up, his expression unreadable behind his already donned full helmet.

Instead, Church only saw the reflection of his own helmet, and the reality of what he, and everyone else in this chopper were, hit home. They were faceless soldiers. Men and women, even just boys like himself and Kyle, whose sole purpose was to do the things governments would never own up to. Was this their future, with no hope for normal lives? Church thought he should ask his friend, but by the time he finished his own thoughts, Alpha had already deployed, their bodies, and quite possibly their lives, lost to the darkness of night.

* * *

><p>Church leaned on one of the massive trees that dominated the forest of Syrinidell, the familiar asperity of tree bark pressed against his back. He used to be fascinated by them, but by now the massive pillars had already lost their grandeur. He wondered if the elves felt this way? To humans, this forest was amazing. But to the elves who had lived here their whole lives, maybe human cities were more fascinating?<p>

The wounded soldier sighed, the exhaustion of nearly two weeks of Alleyne's intense physical training that he had undergone deeply seated in his weary body. Only two days were left until his fight with Echidna. For that reason, Alleyne had told Church to rest these last two days. He believed she had put it, "A spent body is far deadlier to a warrior than any lack of skill."

He had to admit that Alleyne was truly wise. Of course, unlike humanity, elves lived for centuries: even their 'young' ones had far more life experience than any human could ever hope to achieve. This was sort of an unfair advantage, or it would've been if the elves themselves were hostile to the humans around them. Still, from what Church had gathered from Alleyne, the elven population was quite a bit smaller than human one. And Church knew that as far as medieval warfare was concerned, more was almost always better. Even the greatest warriors fell before massive hordes.

Church knew that his mind was wandering, but he could do nothing to control it. On one hand, he couldn't keep still, but on the other, it hurt too much to not do so. So instead he occupied himself with thinking on whatever entered his pained head. There were lots of things to think about, after all; the meaning of life, the purpose of Platypuses, or why people only remembered a tenth of their dreams. All useless things to think about, regardless of how interesting they were. Instead, he should've been thinking on the day after tomorrow's battle strategy.

Church already knew that he was going to lose. He had no doubt about that. The real question, as well as his real worry, was how Echidna would defeat him. Would she see fit to break a few bones and beat him senseless, or would the green-haired elf just kill him? Church wasn't particularly fond of either. And the worst thing was, he knew there was no stopping Echidna from doing what she wanted to him. She was faster, stronger, and had far more battle experience. And by far more he meant that she had hundreds of years and he had zero. Sure, Church had tons of battlefield experience: with guns. But this sword and shield and hand-to-hand combat stuff? The only experience he had with those pertained to old fighting games from before NOVA, and Church didn't really think that qualified him as a deadly warrior.

Of course, if Echidna held true to her word, than perhaps Church wouldn't be in as bad of a situation as he had believed. Echidna had said that all he had to do was touch her: with a few underhanded tricks, and a bit of luck, there was actually a small chance of that happening. Of course, the racy elf could just disregard that little handicap she had granted Church and then proceed to slaughter him anyway, but hopefully Echidna had just a little bit of honor in her, although she didn't exactly look the type for such a thing.

And of course, Alleyne had apparently not deemed it necessary to give Church any kind of weapons training, so it looked like he'd be heading into this mess with his fists.

_Maybe I'll pull of a Shoryuken on her... _he thought jokingly.

Church couldn't even laugh at his own joke. He was beyond screwed. What was he thinking, showing up to a massacre like this? Sure, his honor was at stake, but that was a small price to pay for one's life.

Not to mention that Church was at a great physical disadvantage. Sure, he was now in pretty good shape thanks to Alleyne's rigorous training routine, but all of the exercise in the world would never mend his knee. In physical combat, the limb would slow Church considerably, and any kicks he threw with it would be awkward and stunted. And on top of that, his right arm was still wrapped in a sling, the terrible sprain Echidna had caused at the shoulder and elbow immobilizing it completely. He could move it just slightly, and even then it caused excruciating pain. So it would seem that Church was down to one good leg and one good arm, cutting his combat effectiveness in half.

As he continued to stack up the odds against himself, Church's demeanor gradually grew more dismal and dreary. He had a bad habit of falling into states of depression after the NOVA incident, which was apparently a lingering symptom of post-traumatic stress syndrome. He had conquered all of the other problems: failing to save his comrades and friends, and seeing monsters where there were none. But the depression was always there, somewhere on the edge of his soul, waiting for the time to strike him when he was facing problems like the current one.

Before, Church's sister had always been there to comfort him. Mission was a very loving sibling, constantly fretting over the well-being of her adopted older brother. Well, not adopted, per se, but they were as close to siblings as they could possibly be without being blood related. She and Church were actually cousins. His father's brother had moved to Russia many years before Church had been born. There, he had married his Aunt Misha, and the two had their only child, Mission.

Well, she had actually been named Misha too, the same as her mother, but she had changed it once arriving in America. Before that though, Mission and Church had only met once, when his father had taken the whole family on a trip to visit the distant relatives.

Church smiled to himself as he reminisced about his past life. It seemed so long ago, almost a decade in his past. And so much had happened since then; his induction into the Legion, NOVA, the creation of New Eden... it made the normalcy of his childhood seem so distant, as if it was the fabrication of a dream, and not the experience of a life he once lived.

So many memories filled Church's thoughts, some good and some bad, that a maelstrom of emotions welled up within him. Church didn't know what to feel right now; anger at his own stupidity, happiness in the companionship of his new friends, or depression knowing that he would be away from the family he missed so much for such a long time. Such emotional unbalance was dangerous before a battle, but the soldier could do nothing to subdue his feelings.

As he lay there, slumped against one of the innumerable, generic, and now unappreciated trees of this gargantuan forest, Church was painfully aware of each passing second. Usually, time flew by when he was engrossed in his own thoughts, but now it seemed that time was moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. He knew that if he sat here any longer, he'd go crazy, despite his need for rest. He had to get up and do something, anything to occupy himself, and distract his mind from the unpleasant thoughts they so felt the need to think.

He thought of Alleyne and a promise the two of them had made a few days prior, and his spirits lifted just a little: he needed to go find those cherries she had mentioned.

* * *

><p>Airi swore as she buried her scythe in the trunk of one of Syrinidell's signature trees. Airi was not usually one to lose her cool, at least not when Church wasn't around to agitate her, but she was sick and tired of trees, especially massive trees that blotted out the sky with their massive canopies. Everything looked the same in this place, as all she could see in any direction was a multitude of accursed trees, blending into one another and frustrating Airi to no end. Of all the places Church could've possibly gotten lost, why here? Why in what was possibly the largest collection of plant life this world had to offer? He could be miles upon miles from where she was, and Airi would have no way of knowing.<p>

The resurrected servant sighed and sat on one of the giant roots that supported the monstrous, leafy giant above her. She would wait here for Melona to return from the area she was supposed to have scouted. Although finding each other would usually be hard, as servants of the Swamp Witch, the two had a sort of mental compass that alerted each other to the presence of, well, each other. That was as far as its usefulness extended, except in Airi's case, as it prevented Melona from sneaking up on her to play pranks and whatnot.

Speaking of that nuisance who was unfortunately her only friend, Melona was approaching from behind her. Airi turned to face the slime and receive a report on her findings, but the doleful look on the bunny-eared girl's face already stated that she had not had any success.

Neither of them spoke as Melona came to rest on the root beside Airi, and the wraith noticed that her friend seemed to be almost melting a little. It was something that happened to the shape-shifter whenever she was depressed. Airi couldn't really blame her though. The two of them had been out there for several weeks now: Master would be very displeased with them when they finally returned to the Swamp, not only weeks later than the appointed time, but without Menace in tow, and only a useless new replacement to show for it.

And that last one was very unlikely. Airi didn't know how she would do it without Church figuring out about the nature of his friends, but she did not want to get him involved with the Swamp Witch. The guilt of enslaving him to eternal servitude would be unbearable.

Airi leaned back and analyzed the tree canopy that covered the two companions from the heat of the sun. Only a few patches of the sky was visible through the thick leaves that overlapped each other in the many intertwined branches of the forest. Airi herself wished she were up there in the clouds right now. Flying had been one of the only things the maid actually saw as a benefit of being a spirit. She had always wondered what flying was like as a child, and she had certainly found out, albeit not in a manner she would have willingly chosen.

Airi thought she could see a few illusory birds up there in the sky. She was pretty certain that she was imagining it, because the birds were flapping, but not moving. Which wasn't possible, because birds glided on wind currents, so being stationary wasn't really an option...

Thinking that she may have been seeing things, Airi rubbed her eyes and squinted up at the very real flapping wings, and a realization that made her smile for the first time in many weeks hit her. There were few entities that could see almost anywhere in this world, and Airi believed that she had just found two of them. Things were starting to look a lot better than they had just a few minutes ago.

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><p><strong>OK, so this is a pretty short chapter, but I decided to put out a shorter one sooner than a longer one later because I haven't updated in about a month and a half. Even so, I'll still continue to write fourteen, no interruptions. I just wanted to give you something to read while I did it. Less than a week to get out chapter fourteen, so long as schoolwork allows it. Thanks for reading, and I appreciate feedback from you guys, in however form you see fit. (Although reviews are always preferable).<strong>

**~Shadow0Fire  
><strong>


	11. I Can See My Grave From Here

**This chapter has now been re-written for the better enjoyment of its readers. If you're wondering what the differences are compared to the old chapter, they're listed at the bottom.  
><strong>

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><p>Church flexed his left hand, because his right one was still wrapped up in the sling Alleyne had made for him. This was it: the day of his handicapped duel with Echidna had arrived. Fortunately, it was still early morning, and he still had a few hours before the fight was scheduled to take place. Six in the morning, and Church was wide awake in his nervousness. He felt as though he could sense his impending doom, as he sat motionless on the bed Alleyne had lent to him during his stay here.<p>

He wondered if he should return to sleep, but the premature adrenaline that was coursing through his body prevented Church from feeling drowsy in the slightest. So instead he left the dwelling as quietly as he could, to avoid awakening his gracious hostess, pilfering a bread roll from the pantry as he left. Outside, Church found an outcropping of rough tree root to sit on, crossing his legs and slowly eating his light breakfast as he thought how terrible today would probably be.

His arm was feeling slightly better, thought it did not make much of a difference with his sling on. All in all, Church was in no better shape than he was two days ago, and he was still fretting over how badly he was going to be pummeled. Or mutilated. He really hoped Echidna was not prone to bouts of intense violence.

As he sat chewing on the last of his bread roll, his thoughts once again sunk into a mire of depressing musings. As was his usual bad habit, Church was so engrossed in his own mind that he did not hear the approaching footsteps from behind him. Church was completely oblivious to the presence of another person until they placed a hand on his shoulder.

Startled out of his thoughts, he turned as quickly as he could without twisting his injured arm to face a potential threat, only to be met with the Alleyne's beautiful face.

"My apologies. I did not mean to startle you."

Church sighed. He was always glad to see the blonde beauty, but Alleyne had nearly given him a heart attack.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up, Alleyne."

The elven captain proceeded to seat herself on the root beside Church before replying. "Actually, I've been awake for awhile now. Probably since before you even: I didn't sleep very well last night."

Church swallowed the last of the bread in his mouth. "Why not? I mean, I know why I couldn't sleep well, but you don't have any reason for concern..."

"Don't I? I have just as much to be nervous about as you do, Church. After all, if a friend of yours was in danger, you would be worried too, would you not?"

This seemed like a logical answer, and Church was glad to hear Alleyne call him a friend. "Yeah, I suppose I would. Not as much as the friend though."

Alleyne cast her icy blue gaze out into the forest somewhere. "Well that's to be expected. I mean, you are the one who has to fight, not me."

That sentence seemed to have a sort of finality to it. Church sat in silence as his thoughts returned to what he expected to be a very bad day. The silence between the two early risers persisted for many minutes before his female companion broke it.

"It's not too late, you know."

The sudden statement broke Church's concentration, and he didn't have a response ready: he wasn't sure what Alleyne was talking about anyway. "Huh?"

The blonde woman met her gaze with his, and he noticed an almost pleading look in her eyes. "To run away. It's not too late for you to back down, Church. You could leave the forest and be safe. Then you wouldn't have to worry about this."

Church wondered why Alleyne had brought this up again. He had made it clear already that he had no intention of running away from this. It was a problem he had gotten himself into, and he would deal with it himself.

"No. I can't run away. Because when you start running, the enemy will never let you stop. I won't let that happen to me."

Alleyne said nothing in response, but the look of sorrow in her eyes because of his answer caused a pang of guilt in Church, since he was the cause of that sadness. He wondered if she knew something he didn't. Would Echidna really kill him? Was that why she seemed so forlorn? Or was it because she just didn't wish to see him get hurt? Either way, he had no intention of asking, and it seemed like Alleyne had nothing more to say. And so the morning passed in just such a manner, the two of them sitting in silence, dwelling on thoughts they would not confess to the other.

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><p>Elder Taowrol observed the dueling ring from the Council room, which had a perfect view of the battlefield. Well, it was more of a circle marked by many spears that had been placed upright in the ground: it wasn't much of a proper ring for a fight. But nevertheless, he smiled devilishly as he thought of the delightful event that would take place in just under an hour. Finally, that vermin would be eliminated from his presence: human filth didn't deserve to be within a hundred miles of him.<p>

Of course, half-breed elves were no better, which led to a different problem. Early this morning, one of their own arrived in the village. Upon closer inspection as to the identity of the traveler, it was found to be Lucas: a boy who had lived here many years ago. Elder Taowrol had been none to happy to see him, as that pest was a hybrid elf just like Alleyne's student. Taowrol wished he could just get rid of both of them: useless mutts had no place here.

Maybe Echidna would do him another favor or two? She certainly seemed to have the spare time to take out the trash. He'd even give her permission to do whatever she pleased to them: after all, anyone who wasn't a full-blood elf was just an animal, and deserved to be put down like one.

The accumulating uproar of a crowd below him disrupted his thoughts. He looked down below to see the majority of the village gathering to watch the upcoming fight: they were eager to watch the legendary mercenary they had all heard about slaughter a pathetic human. Or at least Taowrol saw it that way.

He checked the time for how much longer it would be before the match began. Thirty minutes seemed so far away.

* * *

><p>Echidna sat perched on a tree branch far above the designated battle area, awaiting the arrival of her opponent. Of course, it would be more like leading a lamb to a slaughter than an actual fight. She honestly doubted that the man would actually show up, and if he did, it would be short and dull.<p>

Of course, men were pretty stubborn and stupid, and he still had fifteen minutes to be in the ring.

"He's here! The human is here!"

Echidna looked down to the crowd below to see that the onlookers were correct: there was her opponent, blue pants, red jacket, and right arm in a sling.

_Well damn, he actually came. I don't know if I should be impressed with his courage or appalled at his stupidity._

The green haired elf woman jumped down from her perch and landed on the opposite side of the circle that the human was on. He said nothing as he simply stared at her, defiance in his eyes and on his face.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show. You're either very brave or extremely stupid."

The human slightly cocked an eyebrow as he answered. "Or a little of both perhaps."

Was that supposed to be a joke? Something about the idea of this human making jokes right now made Echidna very irritable. He should've been far too scared to be cracking jokes at a time like this.

"Oh, you aren't scared? Or are you just putting on a brave face for your audience?"

Seemingly amused, the man winked at her. "But of course. I can't look like a coward in front of a woman like you, now can I?"

Echidna thought that she might have actually liked this man a little bit. He had guts, and at least she could respect that. But she was here to fight, not talk. The only reason she had challenged this man to a duel instead of just snapping his neck back at the pool was because he had piqued her interest. She wanted to test him: she could tell that he was no average man, but what made him different? Echidna wanted to know, and a life-or-death struggle was the perfect way to find her answer.

Eager to get started, Echidna dashed forward and swung viciously at her opponent's face, half expecting to end the fight right there. Amazingly, the man just barely dodged the lightning fast strike by jerking his head backwards, and her fist connected with nothing but air where his head had just been. The crowd of onlookers gasped as she missed her mark: Echidna had not been the only one expecting a clean hit.

As impressive as the dodge had been, the man's recovery was not, and he stumbled backwards, staggered by his own hasty evasion of Echidna's attack. His opponent took advantage of this and grabbed the edges of his jacket, then launched him to the opposite side of the ring. He landed with a solid thud that caused the crowd to cheer in excitement.

Echidna waited for the man to get back up, thinking of all the ways she could hurt him. She could've just used her sword, but since the man was unarmed, she figured that would be unfair: she did have _some _honor, at the very least. As she waited for the man to stand back up, she noticed the familiar faces of her past acquaintances in the crowd. Alleyne and Nowa were right near the edge of the ring, looks of apprehension written all over their faces. Echidna smiled as she thought about how Alleyne would react to the pain this man was about to endure. This was also the perfect opportunity to discover just how much the combat master cared about this man. Alleyne did not spare much time for anyone, but she had for the man in the red jacket across from Echidna, and the Calibara elf had to know why.

Besides, she was not Taowrol's tool. She was doing this for her own reasons. Whatever beef the elder had with this man was none of her business.

Once the human had finally managed to stand back up, Echidna waited for him to make the first move. When none was forthcoming, she decided to take the initiative again, dashing forward once more, but this time swinging her fist in an uppercut. The human made a quick attempt to block it, but was too slow, and her fist connected with his chin with substantial force.

Despite that he failed in blocking the blow, Echidna's opponent had at least been smart enough to roll with the punch rather than resist it, and instead of being launched off of the ground, he managed to stay rooted. The man jabbed his one good arm forward, aiming for Echidna's gut, but she sidestepped the attack before it connected and then kicked her adversary's legs out from under him.

As soon as he hit the ground, Echidna flipped around and slammed her elbow into her adversary's stomach, causing a sickly gagging sound to erupt from his mouth. She stood back up and watched the man cradle his stomach with his left arm as he rolled in pain. Not patient enough to wait for his recovery this time, she bent down and grabbed the collar of his jacket, again flinging the man to the opposite side of the ring.

When he landed this time however, he did not squirm around in pain, but instead lie motionless. Echidna wondered if she had knocked him out, or if he simply didn't have the guts to stand back up. She would have been seriously disappointed if either one were true. She had judged this man to be tougher than that, but as Echidna stepped a bit closer to see if her enemy was really unconscious, the elf wondered if she may have been mistaken.

As Echidna neared the man's prone form however, she was surprised at a quick sweeping kick from him, which she barely managed to hop out of the way of. The human quickly got back on his feet once he saw the attack had missed.

"Well, aren't you sneaky? At least you're getting smarter about this, not that it'll help. Look, why not just back down? If you beg me, I might not hurt you anymore." She said mockingly. Echidna was actually already impressed with this man's resilience, but she wanted to see just how far he would go for his word. Would the idea of escape from this pain make him quit? Was he a quitter?

The human tried to smile, but grimaced at the pain it caused him instead. His answer came in short, ragged gasps. "No way... I said I would fight you... and I will. Whether I win or lose isn't what's important here..."

Echidna barely managed to hold back a smile. Yes, this man was definitely either very brave or very foolish. He was gutsy and stubborn, and whether she was fond of men or not, the elven warrior could appreciate that. Even though this man was losing, and losing bad, he was far surpassing Echidna's expectations, especially as he fought through his fatigue and lunged at the elf in an attempt to land a solid blow on her.

Echidna caught the man's right hand as it came at her, then subsequently diverted an attempted knee strike with her other hand. Taking advantage of her grip on him, Echidna then turned, pulling herself closer to the man's now exposed torso. Not one to miss an opportunity, Echidna slammed her elbow into the center of her adversary's chest, releasing his arm and watching him fly backwards with a resounding crunch, a stream of blood erupting from his mouth as he did.

* * *

><p>Church landed on the ground in a crumpled spreadeagled shape, the only component of the pose missing being his right arm in its sling. He was coughing up copious amounts of blood, gagging on it, no doubt all of it originating from his chest somewhere. He tried to roll over and get to his feet, but immense anguish kept him from making the slightest of movements, so he instead continued to lay on his back, spewing his blood all over himself and the ground around him.<p>

He knew that his sternum was fractured, although to what extent he was unaware. But how? With the cybernetic implants of the Legion, fracturing such a thick bone with a mortal strike of all things should have been impossible. Church shifted his head just enough to see his tormentor slowly sauntering over to him. He tried to rise once again, but to no avail: the sheer pain in such an action was unbearable.

Church could do nothing as Echidna came to stand over him. There was a strange look in her eye, though it was not contempt or disdain, as Church thought it would be. Instead, she seemed to be contemplating something, as though she were merely curious about a question she had not yet answered.

Suddenly, the pain in Church's chest multiplied tenfold. Echidna had placed her heel on his injured chest, and was slowly but forcefully exerting pressure on him. He could barely hear Echidna's words through the pounding blood in his ears. "Show me how much you can take, human. What's your breaking point...?"

The pain was blinding: Church vaguely remembered having felt suffering even close to this only once before, when an enemy sniper in Baghdad had shot him with an anti-material rifle. Only the thick experimental armor of the Legion had saved him then. Church had no such buffer this time.

But even that incident was not comparable to this: Church felt as though a molten hot spike were being driven through his heart. It burned, unlike anything he had ever felt before, the pain burned him as Echidna continued to press down on his broken bone.

"Stop it!"

Church heard the pleading cry of someone he recognized, but he couldn't tell who it was. The only thing in his mind was the pain. It was roaring in his ears, deafening him to the screams of someone begging for an end to his torment.

After what seemed like eternity, the weight on Church's chest lifted, and the pain slowly, gradually, subsided to a bearable degree. He cracked open his eyes, which he had unknowingly sealed shut in his agony, to see the faces of his saviors, Alleyne and Nowa, crouched over him with looks of worry and horror. He noticed that Nowa had tears in her eyes: obviously seeing him suffer so much pained her as well.

Alleyne's countenance was merely that of fury. She was mad about something, though Church had a feeling that it wasn't directed at him.

He also noticed that the onlooking crowd was deathly silent. Perhaps they thought him dead? Well, they were going to be disappointed.

"Hey. That guy didn't surrender, so when you two are done crying over him, I have a match to finish."

Church heard the voice of his opponent clearly in the silence of the forest, too tired to hear the slightest undertone of amazement in her voice. She wasn't done with him yet... but he wasn't done with her either.

Alleyne's eyes filled with even more anger at Echidna's comment: it looked like she was ready to tear the snake woman apart. But just before she turned to face her, Church fought through his pain to rest his good arm on her shoulder. The action stopped the elven captain short and she turned to look back at him worriedly.

"Not...not yet... I can still... I can still...fight."

He had been talking to Alleyne, but it was her apprentice who answered him. "No! You can't! Church, you'll just get hurt!"

Church cracked a half-grimace, half-smile at the girl. "Just one more try. If it... doesn't work... then you can protect me. Now... help me stand up."

Nowa was about to object again, but Alleyne proceeded to assist Church in standing as gently as she could, cutting off whatever argument the teenager had for stopping him. Once he was on his feet, Alleyne grabbed Nowa by the arm and led her back to the edge of the ring, ignoring the girl's stuttered protests along the way.

It was nice to know that Alleyne had enough faith in Church to give him one more shot.

Echidna cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. She clearly couldn't believe he was going to try this again, though she actually seemed pleased that he was. Church simply stood and waited for her to attack, in what would be, one way or another, the final blow. His opponent dashed at him one last time, aiming her fist for his face, aiming to end the fight for real this time. Church waited until she was within range of his trump card and proceeded to say the most badass thing he could think of at the moment.

"Surprise, bitch!"

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><p><strong>Biggest difference in this chapter was the re-working of Echidna's inner thoughts. A bit of dialogue was changed as well, and Alleyne's behavior was rectified to resemble her more reserved nature.<strong>


	12. Convergence

**This chapter has now been rewritten for your better reading experience.**

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><p><em>I...I can't believe it...<em>

This was the only thought that could form within Echidna's mind as the crowd of astonished elven onlookers watched the scene before them with their mouths agape.

The man whom Echidna had been so hell-bent on brutalizing had his arms, _both _of his arms hanging at his sides, sheer exhaustion the only thing keeping him from raising the two appendages to defend himself. The sling that had held what should've been his inoperable right arm had fallen to the ground, seemingly not needed by the human anymore.

Echidna stood paralyzed, her final advance to defeat the human having been stopped by a bruising hit to her right cheek, though what actually stunned her was the fact that he had actually touched her. At the last second, before Echidna could land her final blow, the human had dislodged his right arm from his sling and swung it like a unwieldy club at Echidna's face, in a last-ditch attempt to hit his adversary.

And it had worked! Echidna had been so overconfident in her victory, that she had failed to even think of such a maneuver being employed by her foe. It had caught her completely unawares, stopped her in her tracks, and marked the first time someone had hit her in the past half-century. The green-haired woman's only reaction was to stand dumbfounded, half-poised for the final strike she had not finished.

The whole forest was silent as they took in what had just happened. Not a single scarlet cardinal chirped in the trees, and the audience's was so quiet and still one could have mistaken them for statues. On the grand-scale of all events that took place in this world, this moment was not such a big deal. But for Echidna, on her scale of events, this was unbelievable. Had she been warned that it would happen a few minutes ago, she would've scoffed and said that such a thing was ridiculous.

"Hey, Echidna?"

The sound of her name snapped Echidna out of her mental lapse. She cast her penetrating crimson gaze at the human who had disrupted both her thoughts and the pervading silence of the forest. The red-jacketed man looked absolutely exhausted, his eyes drooping somewhat, even though there was a small grin on his face. Not a condescending one, or even a triumphant one: just a seemingly calm, happy grin, as though he was totally content with everything in life.

Echidna was reluctant to answer him at first, more than a little irked that this man had gotten the better of her, but something pushed her to deign him with a response. Perhaps it was a little of the new-found respect she had just gained for him.

"...what is it?"

The human's body tilted for a moment, and it looked like he would fall to the ground, but he righted himself before that could happen.

"Do you remember... what you said those two weeks ago? About the... handicap you gave me?"

Echidna scowled, knowing that her own words had doomed her to defeat in this battle. She had given this man her word that touches her would be his win, and he had.

With Echidna's answer not immediately forthcoming, the wounded man contined to speak.

"I don't... I don't suppose that hadnicap... is still in effect? It'd be a... terrible shame... if it weren't."

Despite her dismay at this whole situation, Echidna couldn't resist smiling at the man who was swaying back and forth and nearly passing out every few seconds. He was definitely not your average man, of that much she was now certain.

"Yeah...I remember. I said if you could touch me, you'd win. That was my grace for you. I see now that it was a mistake on my part."

The human's grin widened a little. "Heh, yeah... what's good for me...is rarely good... for others. I'm kinda... a bad luck charm."

The short conversation between the two opponents was interrupted by a maniacal laughing from above.

"Are you a fool!? You truly believe that we shall abide by such a 'handicap'?"

The whole crowd turned to face the source of the voice above, to see none other than the head of the elven council, Taowrol, stroking his gray, pointed beard and smiling wickedly.

"Do you honestly think such a thing is going to happen!? That you will be spared merely because you managed to touch your enemy!? You fool... your death has already been predetermined! You were never going to survive in the first place! Such a handicap was only made to make you believe you actually stood a chance, you filthy cur! And now, your pathetic life is going to be ended, for it is the will of the Council, and our verdict is absolute! Echidna! I command you to finish this worthless swine!"

Echidna shifted her eyes from the deranged elder above and back down to the one he was telling her to kill. The human grimaced as he looked into her eyes, clearly thinking she intended to follow through with this 'command' she had been given.

She rested her hand on the hilt of her blade as she surveyed the crowd. Things were about to get really nasty, really fast. She could tell, because the crowd was eagerly waiting for her to execute her defenseless victim, while Alleyne was directing the most withering gaze Echidna had ever seen at her. If the Calibara elf made a move on the man in the red jacket, she would have to fight Alleyne first, of that she had no doubt.

The two old acquaintances looked into each other's eyes in an attempt to communicate what they were thinking. And although neither would ever admit it, they knew each other well enough to know what the other had on their mind. No words were really needed. Echidna knew that even though it meant exile for her, Alleyne had already dedicated herself to the decision to defend this man, and Alleyne knew that Echidna was not so dishonorable as to break her word, nor foolish enough to be used as a tool by Taowrol.

With an understanding reached, Echidna broke eye contact with the combat master and returned her gaze to the mad elder above.

"First of all, there is no '_we'. _Everything I've done so far I've done for my own reasons. I don't take orders from old geezers like you. I gave my word that all this man had to do was touch me to win: that's what he did, and I've been defeated. He's not going to die today, at least not from me."

The surrounding crowd gasped at the exchange, appalled and stunned by the fact that someone would dare to defy an elder. Elder Taowrol turned beet red with rage.

"You traitorous bitch! How dare you defy me! I am the ruler of this race, and you will do as I say! Slay the human filth now, or I will have your head!"

Echidna smirked. Taowrol's true nature as a scheming, power-hungry manipulator was being revealed, and to most of the village too.

"Now, now, there's no need to be so testy: I don't believe you _are _the 'ruler of this race'. The elves back in Calibara barely know your name, so I doubt they would really consider you their ruler. Besides, do you really think a crotchety old man like you can tell me what to do? Your age must be causing some problems in the head."

Taowrol clenched his fist in rage, and instead of answering Echidna's jabs, turned towards Alleyne instead.

"Combat Master! This task falls to you, for this 'Wild Elf' trash is utterly useless! Dispose of the human immediately! Kill him!"

Unlike Echidna, Alleyne made no attempts to insult Taowrol as she defied him. "I am sorry, Elder. But I cannot follow such an order. You do not have the authority to make such decisions on your own."

Alleyne paused for a moment, before a look of defiance and determination crossed her face. "Besides, I will not allow you to harm this man simply because of your misgivings about his race. If you intend to kill him, you will have to deal with me as well."

Taowrol ground his teeth in his intense, yet futile, fury. "Even you prove to be a traitor... Fine! I shall deal with all of you scum myself! Schwarzwind, to me! Kill the human, kill the traitors! Do not let them escape!"

At his final bellow, several dark robed warriors dropped from the tree canopy above, armed themselves with wicked looking daggers and short swords, and began to form a ring around their targets. The crowd that had been watching the ordeal scattered in fear, lest they get caught in the oncoming struggle.

Echidna drew her curved blade as Alleyne came to stand by her. "Well now, who are these guys supposed to be?"

Alleyne shrugged. "Elven warriors dedicated to Taowrol's service, no doubt. I guess they would be similar to the Queen's Fang. Although I doubt they are as deadly as the legendary Death Squad."

Nowa came to stand behind her two senior warriors as Alleyne finished speaking. "Whoa, there are a lot of these guys! Are we gonna fight them all, Captain?"

Both Alleyne and Echidna turned to face the girl. Alleyne answered, since the question was directed at her. "We are. You are not."

Nowa replied as defiantly as she could muster, considering she was speaking to her teacher. "I...I won't let you keep me from fighting just because these guys are dangerous! Church is my friend too, I have to protect him too!"

Echidna pushed the scantily-clad half-elf away as the members of Schwarzwind slowly moved closer to their prey. "If you really want to protect him, then standing around here isn't the best way to do it. Three of us can't effectively protect one person when we're so heavily outnumbered. Take him and get out of here. That's the best way to keep him safe."

Nowa tried to make some sort of response that would let her stay with the two experienced fighters. "B-but..."

Both of the two faced her one last time. "Go!"

At the synchronized order, Nowa turned her back on her older allies and ran towards Church, who was swaying back and forth precariously, fighting back his exhaustion. As she reached him, he muttered,

"Hey Nowa... what's the... the game plan?"

Nowa smiled as she bent down to grab the older man's legs. "Well, I'm just gonna take you for a spin around the treetops."

Church blanched as the surprisingly strong teenager slung him over her shoulders firefighter style. Suddenly his speech wasn't so sluggish. "W-wait! You mean like jumping in-between the trees!? Like through the air and stuff!? Are you even certified to do that while carrying somebody!?"

Nowa actually gave his comment a brief moment of serious thought. "Well, I don't know about certified but... people say I'm pretty good at it, so there's nothing to worry about, right?"

Church glanced at her incredulously. "What people?"

Nowa smiled sheepishly. "Uh...Ru?"

"Ru's a monkey!"

The girl shrugged. "They say people came from monkeys, so isn't it close enough?"

"I don't believe in evolution!"

Church was only halfway through saying that it was definitely not close enough when Nowa proceeded to leap onto the lowest tree branch she could find, cutting him short.

"Don't worry, you're pretty light, I _probably _won't drop you!"

As the two of them disappeared into the forest, the only thing that could be heard was a angrily yelled, "I'm not baggage, dammit!" from the unhappier of the two escapees. Looking back to where they had left the scene, Alleyne hoped the two of them would be okay. A nudge from Echidna brought Alleyne's attention back to the approaching danger of several dark-garbed assassins moving in for the kill. She was surprised that they hadn't attacked sooner, but supposed they wanted to attack as one.

Alleyne looked over at Echidna to see if she was ready. The warrior was doing the same, and for a moment their eyes met. A meeting of eyes between the two of them spoke volumes about their differences. One was red, and the other blue. One was of an icy, stoic disposition, while the other was fiery and passionate. On one hand they were bitter enemies, but on the other they were loyal friends.

The moment was interrupted by the sound of quickening footsteps, the sound of their enemies rushing to meet them. The two elevn warriors readied their preferred combat stances, and Echidna made a brief remark before the battle started.

"You think you can handle these guys, Alleyne?"

"Of course, I probably trained most of them."

Echidna smirked at the oncoming wave of attackers. "You know, this kind of reminds me of our little escapade back in Dunin Field, all those years ago..."

"That was a long time ago Echidna. Much longer than I wish to remember."

"Yeah, back then you were actually fun! Not like the old hag you are now."

Alleyne was actually rather glad to hear Echidna's jests about her age. As she prepared herself to meet the oncoming tide of enemies, it served to remind her of simpler times.

* * *

><p>Nowa nimbly dodged yet another throwing knife as it buried itself in the bark of the tree she was about to land on. Two members of Schwarzwind had broken off from their main force and pursued her, since she was carrying one of their targets. Ru, who had found Nowa running from her pursuers in the forest, hardened to deflect another lethal projectile from cutting into the young girl's back.<p>

Church had lost consciousness a few minutes ago, the stress of being carried through the air at high speeds too much for his battered and exhausted body. Nowa was worried about him, but she had no way of checking on him besides stopping her flight from her pursuers, which wasn't really an option.

So instead she just kept hopping from branch to branch, doing her best to evade the dangerous weapons that were being thrown at her by the men who shadowed her every move. But although Church was indeed lighter than he looked, his weight was still bearing down on Nowa's slender frame, and the half-elf was gradually losing speed and mobility as she tired out from the physical stress that was being exerted on her.

Nowa knew that she would run out of stamina long before the two me chasing her did, as they had no burden to carry as they jumped from branch to branch. So instead of continuing her futile attempt to escape, Nowa leaped down to the ground and rested her precious cargo against the trunk of a nearby tree, before turning to face her opponents with her staff. Her only option was to fight.

The two members of Schwarzwind landed on the brush covered ground a few feet in front of Nowa. Their faces were hidden under the dark hoods and black cowls that they wore. They both stood silently, arms hidden under their cloaks, as if waiting to see what the girl they faced would do.

Whatever it was they were expecting though, it was certainly not going to happen, though Nowa hadn't really expected it either. Without a word, both assassins fell to the ground, neither of them making the necessary arm movements to keep their faces from impacting the dirt beneath them.

What instead took their place made Nowa's heart skip a beat, half out of fear, and half out of anger. "You! How dare you show your face here after what you tried to do to the forest!"

The ghost maid that had materialized behind the fallen assassins raised the large scythe that she wielded in preparation for combat. "I don't have time for you. I'm just here for the man behind you. Stay out of my way and you won't get hurt."

Nowa retreated closer to the tree Church was slumped against. Airi was an unpredictable foe, and she wasn't going to give her any more opportunities than she already had. "There's no way I'm going to hand him over to someone like you! Just try to take him, and I'll send you packing just like last time!"

Airi glared at the girl irritably. "If I recall correctly, I had you all but beaten until the blonde warrior showed up. You're no match for us by yourself."

Nowa only realized too late what the reality of the situation was. A stirring in the branches above her caught her attention just in time to see a pink boot crashing into her face.

_Captain...Church...I'm sorry... _That was the last thought Nowa had before losing consciousness to the consuming darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>What were the biggest changes in this chapter? Most of it was Echidna's thoughts and reactions. She's responded a lot differently to the situation this time, and I think it was for the best. Alleyne also had some dialogue changes, and Airi changed a single line, but that's about it.<strong>


	13. O Captain, my Captain

**This chapter has now been re-written for your enhanced enjoyment.**

* * *

><p>"Well, that was waa~aay easier than I thought it would be!"<p>

Airi ignored her pink friend's victorious comment as she walked past Melona and the fallen body of their enemy. The petite elven girl had been knocked out instantly when Melona landed her surprise attack. Airi briefly noticed the little monkey that had accompanied the girl scampering off into the woods, but was too concerned about Church to really care.

So instead of doing anything about the monkey or the defeated half-elf, Airi instead moved to the body of the one she had been searching for. Church was slumped against a tree, exactly as he had been left there. As she came to stand in front of his unconscious body, Airi struggled to hold back a choked sob. As the weeks had passed, Airi was almost positive that Church had been killed or maimed or something of a similar nature. To see him alive and well was a huge relief for her. Airi herself realized that she was feeling far more strongly about this man than she should have been, considering how short of a time she had known him, but she buried those thoughts quickly, not willing to entertain them at the moment.

Wiping away a few premature tears, Airi knelt down and gently shook Church by his shoulders in an attempt to wake him. He stirred briefly after a few moments, and cracked his eyes open to meet Airi's.

"A-Airi? You... w-what are you doing here...?

The ghost maid smiled and gave the battered man a gentle hug. "I'm here to rescue you of course. Can't you see how much trouble you get in to without me around to watch over you?"

Melona chimed in from behind her. "Hey, I came too! Don't take all of the credit, Airi!"

Church peeked over Airi's shoulder to see his other friend. From this angle, he couldn't see Nowa's unconscious body. He was barely conscious himself, so it didn't even occur to him that Nowa should have been there too. "Melona...you too, huh? Thanks... both of you..."

With that, Church slipped back into unconsciousness. Airi scowled at this, because it would have been better if he could move himself. Sure, she or Melona could carry him, but that would be problematic during a hasty retreat from the now embattled forest, especially if the two servants encountered more opponents.

It was frustrating that she had finally found Church but could not immediately leave. Airi twirled her index finger around one of her twin-tails as she thought of a solution. Her concentration did not last long however, as a throwing knife buried itself in the trunk next to Airi's head. Twisting around to both face this new assailant and deflect any more projectiles, Airi laid eyes on a nuisance she did not need right now.

"You again? What do you want, kid? We don't have time to deal with you right now."

The brown-robed, hooded boy who had obviously thrown the weapon did not answer her. Melona took the brief moment of silence to pop a question. "Airi, you know this kid? Where did he come from?"

Airi scowled as she answered. "This is the guy who attacked Church back in the desert: a kid who's clearly too stubborn and dense for his own good."

The boy tossed his hood back, revealing his face, as well as shoulder length brown hair, as he answered the response that had been directed towards Melona. His hazel eyes burned with hatred. "Stubborn? I'm far more than that. I would chase you to the ends of the world, or to hell and back, if it meant I could destroy you!"

Melona leaned towards Airi and whispered to her. "Wow, talk about a serious grudge. What did you do to this guy?"

Airi shrugged as she prepared to battle this new threat. "I don't know, and honestly, I don't care. He's in our way, and that's all that matters."

The brown-haired boy took a few steps forward as he pulled out two strange hand-sized circular blades from within his cloak. "I've been waiting a long time for this. I'm going to crush you, cleansing this world of just one more abomination!"

Melona wagged a finger at the approaching enemy. "Now, now, don't forget, I'm here too! Are you really going to fight both of us? That would be pretty stupid, y'know?"

The boy stopped his advance and jabbed a finger at the voluptuous slime. "I have no quarrel with you! Just stay out of my way!"

He then switched his finger as well as his heated glare towards Airi. "My only problem is with this bitch. I will avenge my village, and you will suffer as much as they did!"

As Airi took note of the boy's pointed ears, much like the ones that the unconscious girl on the ground had, his identity struck a chord in her memory. "You're… a survivor, aren't you? Of that village I destroyed a few months ago..."

The boy's eyes filled with rage. "Yes. I am the only survivor of that village. You killed and burned everything and everyone else. You showed no mercy, and neither will I!"

Airi sighed. "Look kid, I'm sorry about your village and all, but I didn't have a choice. That's what Master wanted..."

"You dare try to deceive me with false apologies? Your depravity really does know no bounds...I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you and everyone you would even consider calling a friend! Then you'll know my pain!"

Threatening her was bad enough, but threatening her friends was another matter entirely. One of Airi's most prominent qualities was loyalty, not just to her master, but also to her allies and companions. Threatening them was far worse than threatening Airi herself. Given, Melona could take care of herself, but at the moment Church could not: and if this elven boy was going to hurt Church, Airi was going to hurt him first.

She looked at Melona and pointed a thumb back at Church's immobile body. "Watch him. More of those assassins may be around here somewhere. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Airi didn't want Church to be within the danger zone that her fight with this boy would create, so she flew up into the air and hovered above one of the lower branches, beckoning to the boy as he did so. "Well come on then: if you want a fight, you have to catch me first."

Without uttering a word, the brown robed boy leaped onto the lowest branch of the tree and scaled it with surprising agility and speed. As he neared Airi's branch, the scythe-wielding wraith flew over to another tree, gradually leading him away from her two friends.

The two of them were soon out of Melona's sight, and being unable to bear witness to it, the Protean Assassin quickly lost interest in Airi's situation, and instead went over to attempt to wake Church from his exhaustion-induced slumber.

She knelt in front of Church and poked him in the arm a few times, but the action garnered no response from the unconscious man. Melona tried a number of other things, such as flicking him on the nose and pulling on his cheeks, but when nothing seemed to work, she merely fell back on her gelatinous rump and sighed.

"Geez, we put all of this effort into finding you, and when we finally do you're busy sleeping on your lazy ass."

As one last attempt, Melona poked Church in the stomach, but instead of squishing into a soft belly, her finger ran into tough muscle. A brief moment was all it took for Melona to succumb to her curiosity and pull up Church's shirt to investigate. She was pleasantly surprised to find that Church had been working on his abs: it wasn't like he had a six-pack or anything, but it was a step towards fitness nevertheless.

"Or maybe you haven't been so lazy after all, huh? Just what have you been up to out here?"

Melona's self-talk was interrupted by a rush of air that rustled her bunny ears, followed by the flapping of large wings. Turning to face the source of the noise, Melona eyed the two angels she and Airi had tailed to find Church. The one with the pink hair seemed displeased, but the blue-haired one with green-eyes looked at Melona with obvious disdain.

The latter mentioned angel pointed a gloved finger at Melona as she opened her mouth. Melona found her high-pitched voice to be overly annoying. "Who do you think you are, using Holy Angels like us to find your stuff?! A monkey like you should know better!"

Melona's right eye twitched in annoyance. Being called a monkey wasn't quite the same as being called a monster, but it was definitely insulting.

"Who are you calling a monkey, you crippled pest?"

The angel, who did indeed have a deformed right wing, clenched her fists in anger. Melona had obviously hit a sore spot. "C-c-crippled!? Y-you... how dare you! I'll make you pay for that, you stupid mortal monkey! Get over here!"

Nanael practically tackled her adversary, launching her and Melona into the ground. Hachiel could do nothing but watch: she wasn't really much of a fighter. She hovered a little above the tussle and tried to calm Nanael from there.

"P-please, Nanael, we're here to get the boy, not fight anybody!"

Hachiel's rambunctious friend took a brief moment out of her grapple with her squishy adversary to respond. "Whatever, you get him, I'm busy!"

As the two of them continued their bout (Although Hachiel didn't quite know how you could grapple with a shape-shifter that could practically melt into a puddle), Hachiel decided that she would leave Nanael to her own devices: angels were practically invincible as long as they were equipped with Holy Milk anyways.

Instead she flew over to the man who was their objective. As she neared him, Hachiel could feel a faint aura of energy coming from him that was unlike anything she had ever encountered before. Everyone had a unique aura of energy, but this man's energy was not of this world: he himself was an anomaly.

Beyond that though, the angel could not understand why he was so important. As one of the more intelligent angels in service to Heaven, she had a better understanding of all things in general: but there were some things no angel was told about. An abnormality in the fabric of time and space itself was one of them.

Grabbing the strangely-dressed man under his arms to lift him efficiently, Hachiel lifted him a few feet into the air. He was a lot lighter than she had expected. Casting one last glance at Nanael and her opponent tussling on the ground, the pinkette angel sighed and took off into the forest, looking for a quiet place to question her quarry.

* * *

><p>"Why are you running!? Fight me!"<p>

Airi ignored her pursuer's angry calls and challenges as her nearly weightless body alighted on top of yet another branch. Her adversary was quite a few branches below her, climbing as rapidly as he could, despite all of the energy he had lost chasing her around the forest for the past thirty minutes.

She, on the other hand, was in even worse shape. The last time Airi had acquired any large amount of life-force was back in town in the desert. She had stockpiled that life-force so that she could go for several weeks without it, but that reserve was quickly depleting. Even with the amount she had replenished from the two assassins earlier, Airi was rapidly growing weaker. Looking down at herself, Airi noticed that her outer garments were becoming slightly transparent, revealing a little of her lacy white underwear.

Along with this, Airi's minor spirits were also becoming harder to control. As her strength waned, the spirits that she usually commanded with absolute authority grew more rampant. The useless creatures didn't really have any loyalty: they were more like conscripted vassals that the Swamp Witch had put under her servant's control.

Contemplating all of the disadvantages stacked against her, Airi wondered how she would fare against this elven boy if she decided to fight him. After all, he could obviously keep up with her when she fled, so running no longer held any purpose. And even if he did defeat her, he couldn't kill her, seeing as how Airi was already dead. So there really was no risk in engaging him.

The opponent in question had just wrapped his arms around the branch below her, legs dangling, when Airi made her first move. Hopping down from her perch, the wraith combined the weight of her scythe's blade with the power of gravity, effectively turning her weapon into a deadly guillotine.

The razor-sharp edge of her unique weapon just barely missed the head of her target, who nimbly evaded the fatal strike by shimmying to the side. Instead, Airi cleaved the thick branch the boy dangled from in two, sending him down to the hard earth nearly a hundred feet below. Her opponent smashed into several wide branches as he fell, and Airi could hear more than a few snaps on his way down. After bouncing off of the lowest branch, the battered boy landed on the ground with a hard thud, his back taking the brunt of the rough landing.

Airi hovered slowly to the ground, her spiritual form completely unaffected by the laws of nature. She alighted on the soft underbrush of the forest soundlessly, waiting to see if her opponent still retained consciousness.

After a few moments, the boy struggled to his hands and knees, coughing up a little blood as he did so. He pushed himself up, attempting to stand, but fell back to the ground instead, out cold.

Airi relaxed her tensed body as she concluded that her fight was already over. Seeing an opportunity, she walked over to her defeated opponent, knelt down, and placed a hand on his back. No one said Airi could only absorb life force through the mouth: it was just preferable because it was more efficient.

The rush of invigorating energy that filled her was very refreshing. Removing her hand that served as a connection between herself and her host, Airi glanced down at her clothes, noting with satisfaction that she wasn't having any problems keeping them solid anymore. Reaching once more for her prey, she decided to finish him off here: she didn't want this nuisance bothering her or her friends again.

An almost silent rustling from behind stopped her however, and Airi had just enough time to turn andsee the oncoming edge of a curved snake sword before she realized that the fight was far from over.

* * *

><p>Alleyne really hoped she understood Nowa's pet monkey: it had come to her and grabbed onto her leg after she and Echidna had finished dispatching Schwarzwind, and urged her to follow it back into the forest, particularly in the direction that her apprentice had fled with Church.<p>

As she sprinted after the furry creature, weaving thorugh tree trunks as they got in her way, Alleyne could only come to the conclusion that something had gone wrong with her two companions' escape. She hoped that neither of them had been hurt: that maybe the Schwarzwind assassins that had found them had not killed them immediately.

Alleyne seethed with unfamiliar fury at the thought of it. The emotion was so potent that Alleyne herself was actually a little scared of it. She was usually so calm, composed, and collected, but recently, Alleyne's emotions had been getting the best of her, affecting her judgment in negative ways. But even though she wanted to repress these feelings, Alleyne knew that if either Nowa or Church had been killed… Taowrol would have hell to pay.

The elven captain had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she almost stepped on the forest creature she had been following. Ru had apparently reached its destination: a small clearing that the trees formed a ring of bark around, that also held several bodies and evidence of a struggle. Two of the bodies were of dead Schwarzwind assassins. The other was that of her pained, but very much alive, apprentice.

Nowa was leaning against a tree, rubbing the side of her face where there was a distinct purple bruise was forming. Alleyne quickly came over to her and knelt before pulling Nowa's hand away from the injury and checking for serious damage.

"Nowa! Are you alright? What happened?"

The small girl shook her head lethargically. She obviously wasn't feeling well. "I... I don't know... I didn't even see it coming..."

After concluding that Nowa didn't have any permanent damage, Alleyne stood and checked her surroundings for possible hostiles. Her expertly trained eyes couldn't detect any, and the forest itself was pretty quiet, so for the moment she was at ease. She looked back down at Nowa.

"Who did this to you? The assassins are dead, so it must have been someone else. Were there more of them?"

Nowa looked up at her, but her eyes were blurry and unfocused. "I-I…can't…remember…"

Alleyne frowned, hoping that Nowa's memory issue was only a temporary effect of a solid blow to the head. With Church obviously absent from the area, Alleyne knew she coudl not stay here to watch over Nowa, and so turned to Ru.

"Will you watch her?"

The little monkey stood on its hind legs and made a motion with his arm that looked somewhat like a comical salute. She would take that as a yes.

Alleyne turned away from the two of them to examine the clearing once more: the only way to find out where others had been was to observe the surrounding area. With careful attention to detail, one could find things that should not be.

It took the Combat Master a good two minutes to find them, but there were indeed abnormalities in the surrounding forest. One of the trunks of a tree to her left had several scrapes along its sides, as if someone had been climbing up it. Some of the flimsier braches were also bent as well, where someone had put their weight on it. To her right was a far less distinguishable abnormality: several leaves had been removed from the twigs that held them, and a very vague path of affected trees could be seen. Something that was at least human-sized had passed through there, and since it was in the air, whatever it was must've been flying.

Taking all of this into account, Alleyne decided to follow the less obvious trail to her right. Although Church could've gone either way, she knew he wasn't foolish enough to try and escape from his pursuers by climbing into a tree: a human like him, especially in his injured state, could never hope to outmaneuver an elf in that kind of situation.

She looked down to Nowa one last time, noting that the girl had already fallen into a restful slumber, and was being vigilantly watched over by Ru, who was scanning the forest for danger. Feeling assured about Nowa's safety, at least for a brief while, Alleyne headed off into the woods, searching for the man who had somehow forcefully wriggled his way into her heart, although for better or for worse, she still couldn't tell.

* * *

><p>Barely deflecting yet another blow from her new enemy, Airi stumbled backwards, panting from the exhaustion this battle was causing her. The elf woman across from her, however, showed no signs of fatigue at all.<p>

"What's the matter? You aren't done already are you?"

The teasing, green-haired snake woman infuriated Airi. If she had just been able to recover more of her vitality from the boy, this fight would not be so one-sided, and her opponent would not be so cocky and sure of herself.

The woman made a motion with her index finger that was universal for, 'come and get me.' It was obviously just an attempt to provoke her, an attempt that Airi was not going to fall for. She held back and tried her best to regain her breath. Spirit or not, Airi still had a physical manifestation, and it still possessed some physical qualities.

Seeing that Airi had not fallen prey to her provocation, the crimson eyed elf woman frowned. "Aw, hanging back? That's no fun. You're not scared are you?"

Catching her breath to some degree, Airi prepared herself for another attack from the woman. She was fast, strong, limber, and was certainly a dangerous opponent. And Airi, without her full strength, was definitely no match for her. Fighting was futile: but for the moment she could see no other choice.

Her enemy ran at her, swinging her sword viciously in a precise upward strike aimed for Airi's torso. Sidestepping, the wraith barely managed to bounce the blade away from her flesh with the handle of her scythe. The deflection threw her adversary off balance, but only for a brief moment.

Without missing a beat, the woman spun around with incredible speed, using her shield like a crude hammer to smash into Airi's exposed side. The blow caused an ugly thud and sent the Swamp Witch's servant careening into the large roots of a nearby tree.

The attack fazed her for a few moments, but Airi quickly returned to her feet, scowling at the woman whose face showed a little bit of shock. No doubt she had expected her attack to be more crippling. Unfortunately for her, it was quite difficult to cripple a spirit, at least while she still had enough power to heal her wounds.

Charging the energy of her minor spirits, Airi slashed at her target from afar, a purple crescent of ghostly energy flying forth from the blade of her scythe. The spiritual projectile cut through the air with deadly speed, and the only thing her enemy had time to do was raise her shield in defense. This time, she was the one sent flying, being thrown several feet backwards by the force of the impact.

Once more, Airi noted her own weakness in dismay. If she had been at full strength, that attack would have sliced that shield and its bearer in half. But with Airi's current power, it had been much less effective, merely creasing the woman's steel shield a few inches inward where it had hit it.

The attack had also drained a lot of her remaining vitality. Putting her hands on her knees, Airi took a brief moment to bend over and rest before anything else happened: an action that turned out to be a terrible mistake. In her effort to take a brief respite, Airi had completely neglected the lack of damage she had caused her opponent. Hearing the rush of oncoming footsteps traversing the forest floor, she realized her mistake all too late.

Raising her head and seeing the cruel edge of her adversary's sword coming to meet her soft skin, Airi had only enough time to raise her arm and protect her face from the weapon. The steel cut deep into her forearm, slicing through skin and muscle, and splattering crimson blood across the green underbrush of the forest.

Before she could even utter a cry of pain, a booted foot crashed into Airi's stomach, brutally launching her backwards yet again, followed by a trail of blood from her recent wound. The ground met her with unyielding solidity, forcing the air out of her lungs as she landed. Determined to get out of this situation, Airi disregarded the pain she was so unused to feeling and pushed it into the farther recesses of her mind.

As she rose to her hands and knees, Airi noticed that she had landed next to the body of the unconscious boy she had dispatched earlier. Casting a brief glance at the green-haired woman who was her opponent, Airi came to the conclusion that defeat here was inevitable: and so she would fall back to a dastardly, yet efficient, backup plan.

Standing before the elf could close the distance between them and attack yet again, Airi dropped the edge of her scythe to the boy's neck and held it over him threateningly. It had the intended effect, and her opponent suffered a moment of hesitation before her planned attack.

"Stay where you are, or this boy is dead."

The elf woman glared at her Airi menacingly. "If you hurt him…"

Airi kept an even tone as she cut the woman off. "Drop your weapons and let me leave, and I'll let him live." She dug the tip just enough into the boy's skin to cause a bit of bleeding. "It's your choice."

The woman hesitated for a moment, before dropping her weapons and muttering angrily to herself. Airi, seeing that her opponent had complied with her demands, gathered the energy she would need to dematerialize. It was noticeably more difficult than usual. She managed one last comment and a demeaning smirk as she faded out of the physical world.

"Until next time, lover-girl."

Airi just caught sight of a dark scowl crossing the woman's face at the remark before completely disappearing, and couldn't subdue an ephemeral smile at her victory.

* * *

><p>Alleyne knew what she was closing in on. Not just on Church, but also her childhood home. The secluded section of the forest that she had been raised in, just she and her grandmother, was just ahead, and somehow she knew that was where her objective would be.<p>

Crossing a final barrier of young saplings and thick tree trunks, the place came within her sight: a very large, luscious green clearing that had a few ancient trees, a sparkling blue lake and a polished wooden cottage surrounded by a grove of cherry trees. No one had lived in that cottage for many years, and yet Alleyne knew it was as spotless as if someone was: she visited once a year to keep it in good condition, as homage to her deceased grandmother.

But as personal as this place was, none of it was immediately important. Alleyne ignored the memories of her far-off childhood and scanned the area for the man she was searching for. It was easier to find him than she had imagined it would be, but not because of where he was, but because of what was with him.

Down near the edge of the lake was a large human looking creature with wings- certainly an angel, hovering above the sleeping body of Alleyne's friend. Knowing that angels were agents of heaven, Alleyne didn't think that she intended to harm Church in any way, but the elven woman advanced with caution anyway.

Keeping her footfalls silent on the soft, wet grass was an easy enough task for someone who had lived in the forest her entire life, and Alleyne managed to come within a few feet of the two persons before garnering any attention. Hearing the slightest sound of grass being crushed underfoot, the alert angel turned to face the source of the noise, one pink-haired, golden eyed face meeting that of a blonde, blue eyed one. Her reaction was immediate.

"S-stay back! As a Holy Angel of Heaven, this man is in my custody and under my protection!"

Alleyne raised her hands in the universal sign of peace. "I do not intend to harm him or you. He is my friend, and if you'll allow me, I would like to speak with him."

The wary angel looked down on Alleyne suspiciously, but after a few moments her gaze softened. "…Fine. But I'm watching you, so no funny business, OK? And leave your staff over there."

Alleyne nodded and deposited her weapon where the angel indicated without dissent. After a nod of affirmation from the angel, she moved closer to Church, who was still mercifully unconscious. Sitting down beside him, Alleyne was hesitant to wake the man, knowing full well that he would feel all of the aches and pains of this day's hardships. But, knowing that this may be the last time she would see him, there were some things she simply had to say.

Gently pulling his prone body into a sitting position and leaning him onto her shoulder, Alleyne proceeded to shake him softly. He stirred a bit and peeled open one exhausted eye after another, raising them to meet Alleyne's tender gaze. He grinned as he recognized her.

"I think you took a wrong turn somewhere Alleyne... heaven is the other way."

Alleyne allowed herself a small smile, though its rarity increased its worth in the eye of the man under her visage. "I'm surprised you feel up to making jokes in your current condition, Church."

"I always feel up to forcing a smile out of you. I mean, I can't have you scowling all of the time..."

Though it was in jest, Alleyne wondered how true those words were. She knew she didn't smile all that much, but was she scowling all of the time too? Did other people look at her and think that she was always bitter and irritable about something?

Church's voice brought Alleyne back to reality. "Speaking of scowls, I was only kidding Alleyne. You don't need to frown like that."

Alleyne tried to force a smile back on her face, though she ultimately failed. Suddenly she wasn't in a mood for smiling. "Church... how do you feel? You look as though you're in so much pain..."

The battered man in Alleyne's arms sighed, though the gentle curve of his mouth never fell. "Well, it's been one hell of a crazy day, that's for sure... first Echidna, and then a crazy old guy and his assassins... this forest really isn't as safe as it felt like at first, you know?"

Alleyne said nothing in response, creating more silence between the two of them as Alleyne glanced over all of Church's injuries. The terrible sight elicited many emotions, among them anger and sadness: but for the most part, Alleyne felt regret. Wasn't this her fault? Couldn't she have stopped this?

Church's smile finally fell as he witnessed Alleyne's ever-deepening scowl. "Alleyne, what's wrong?"

The elf took a few moments to find a response. She didn't know what was wrong really. All she knew was that she felt guilty for letting such harm come to this man. But why? True, she was his guest, and that meant his health was her responsibility. But her concern for him extended far past that of a guest. He was her friend. He was a friend that she was very fond of.

"This...this is all my fault. Your injuries are my fault, Church."

Church furrowed a brow at the woman, unable to understand why she felt this way. "That's not true at all, Alleyne. Why would you say that?"

Alleyne's voice was tight with anger, though it seemed to be mostly directed at herself. "If I had done something… this wouldn't have happened. I could've stepped in, or taken you away from the village… there's so much that I could've done… but didn't… because I was too worried about following the foolish customs of this village. It is my fault that all of this has happened..."

Her words petered off as Alleyne ran out of things to say. This was the first time Church had ever seen her look so miserable, and he already knew he didn't like it one bit. He wrapped both of his arms around Alleyne, encompassing her in a warm hug in an attempt to comfort her. Ignoring the pain in his arms was easy, if it was for this.

"Alleyne, none of this was your fault. If anything, I'm the one who accepted the challenge, and refused to back down, even though you told me to. I was too stubborn to listen to you, but at least you gave me a choice. I would rather you have done that than to have forced me to drop this whole stupid situation. I mean, I've landed you in a heap of trouble; with the Council, and the village, and probably with Nowa too. I doubt she wanted all of this."

Church's tranquil tone calmed Alleyne to a certain degree, temporarily lessening her anger. "I think Nowa will be fine. She cares more about her friends than her social standing in the village. Knowing that she kept you safe is enough for her. But… you're right. You have put us in a tight spot. You do realize that you won't be able to stay with us anymore? Taowrol will be targeting us, and we won't be able to keep you safe… but you know all of this already, don't you?"

Church nodded sadly. "Yeah. I know. But that's the price I have to pay for not listening to you. This is what I had coming. But I'll see you again. Both you and Nowa… and maybe even Echidna too… I know that I'll see you all again, without a doubt."

Alleyne actually managed to crack the smallest of smiles. It was hard to frown in the face of Church's optimism. "But how do you know? What makes you so sure that you'll see us again?"

Church smiled. "People who really care about each other will always be able to find each other in the end. Because of a certain affinity, if you will."

"Do you really believe that?"

He nodded. "Yeah, though I would feel a whole lot better if you believed it too."

Alleyne had no ready response, and the two of them, wrapped in each other's arms, shared many minutes of silence, the both of them staring out into the lake.

After a few minutes, a strange though occurred to Church. "You know, there's this one poem I just remembered..."

Alleyne cocked an eyebrow at him, unsure of what Church was getting at. "A poem?"

Church nodded. "Yeah, I can't remember who wrote it, but it was about... well, I think it was about the end of an adventure. The end of an adventure because of the loss of a the captain, who led his men with bravery."

"How do you mean?"

Church furrowed his brow in thought. "Well… it was written after the death of a man named Abraham Lincoln. He was an amazing leader. Many, many years ago, before my generation, he led my home country through a terrible civil conflict. Soon afterwards, he was murdered. The poem was lamenting Lincoln's death, since he had led his people through such strife and hardship."

Even with that explanation, Alleyne couldn't understand what Church was trying to say. "So why did this piece of poetry occur to you right now?"

He smiled forlornly. "Well… you're not dying, I know that. But I am technically losing my Captain, who so bravely led me through all of this strife to the very end. The words just came to me while we were sitting here... Alleyne... you have no idea how much I'm going to miss you..."

At his last mournful remark, Alleyne felt a stab of pain in her chest. It was an unusual feeling that the elven woman had not experienced before, even in all of her years of living. She would have attributed this pain to being separated from someone close to her, but even her grandmother's death did not affect Alleyne quite like this. Still unsure of what the source of this pain was, Alleyne pulled Church close and wrapped her arms around his body tightly, careful to avoid his many injuries.

"I…I'm going to miss you too, Church. You have given me a type of companionship I have not experienced for many, many years. For that, I can't thank you enough."

Despite what she said, Alleyne questioned her own feelings. Why did she feel this way? She'd never felt so pained to be separated from someone. This man… she had known him for barely a month and yet he already held so much importance to her. He had been her friend, but he had been more than that too. He inspired feelings the elven woman had never experienced before… feelings that she didn't know what to think of. Was this love, what Echidna had teased her over for centuries? This…ache in her heart, knowing that this man was going to be taken away from her, perhaps permanently?

She wasn't sure how long the two of them stayed like that, but Alleyne was vaguely aware that the observant angel had disappeared from the scene: perhaps she had realized how personal this time was. Alleyne appreciated the thoughtfulness, grateful that the angel had been so considerate.

As she sat in silence, a thought popped into Alleyne's mind.

"Church, who are you going to stay with? I may have to escort you out of the forest, at the very least…"

He shook his head. "That won't be necessary. Some friends found me a little while ago. They'll take care of me."

"Friends?"

"You can trust them."

Alleyne sighed. "I'm not sure I want to. I trust myself far more than these friends of yours."

Another long silence followed the pair as they cradled one another. Several minutes passed, although neither knew exactly how long. It wasn't awkward or anything: it was a peaceful tranquility, quietly accepted by both parties. It was Church who once again broke it.

"Is this where you grew up, Alleyne?"

The questioned woman answered without giving it much thought. "Yes. How did you know?"

"I noticed some cherries around here, and figured it was the place you mentioned before. You know, speaking of which, I never did get a chance to make those sweets for you…"

Alleyne laughed, but it was laced through and through with a tone of great sadness. "I guess you didn't, did you? But tell you what, I promise I'll try them some time… if you promise to see this forest with me during the fall. It is very beautiful around that time of year, and I'd love for you to...well, for us to…see it together."

Church looked up into her eyes. "I promise, as long as you do."

She nodded in response. "I promise."

Church smiled and nodded, and Alleyne could only watch as the man drifted back into unconsciousness. There was nothing he could do to hold off the fatigue from his rough day. Alleyne allowed herself a bittersweet smile as she looked down on him, then sighed as she looked up at the trees.

"I fail to see what is so good about goodbyes..."

* * *

><p><strong>The most prominent change in this chapter was Alleyne's attitude and dialogue. She's far more in character this time around. No tears were shed this time!<strong>


	14. Back to Square One

**I know it's only been a few days, but the last chapter didn't get as much attention as I had hoped, seeing as it is a really big event and had the first signs of serious romance. I'm kind of disappointed in that regard, but I guess there is no helping it; I just thought more people would have something to say about it. Well, that's beside the point: I have a relatively minor question for you. I didn't originally plan on making any romantic arcs with one of the Vance sisters, but someone brought up the fact that they would like that. The only problem is that I really hate both Leina and Claudette, so only Elena would be a viable option (She'd be more fun to write about anyway). So the gist of it is this; would you like me to add her as a viable relationship, even if it is not romantic per se, or could you really care less? **

**And a special thanks to Vandenbz for assisting me in both grammatical correctness as well as story development.**

* * *

><p>"Hey, I found him! Airi, he's over here!"<p>

Church awoke to the sound of a voice that he happily recognized. He pushed himself up into a sitting position with his one good arm, looking towards the source of the noise, all the while noticing Alleyne's absence.

He didn't have time to think about his final moments with the elven beauty though. All of his attention was drawn to the two women who were rapidly approaching the lakeside to get to him. He didn't even have time to utter a word of greeting as Melona tackled him to the ground. Surprisingly, despite the force she had put behind it, the impact had been really soft: sort of like Jell-O. Thanks to this strange phenomenon, Church's injuries were hardly jostled at all.

"Geez Church, what's with you and disappearing on us without warning? I don't know how many times Airi will come for you if this keeps happening..."

Church just grinned and did his best to hug the peculiar girl that pinned him to the ground, noticing that there were quite a few beautiful white feathers stuck to her body. Hardly having the strength to say anything unnecessary, Church didn't ask about them.

His smile only widened as Church saw Airi walk up behind the two of them, a happy and relieved smile dominant on her face. Melona, noticing the arrival of her slower comrade, pushed herself off of Church's body, and stepped out of the way as Airi offered her arm to help up the wounded man they had worked so hard to rescue.

But as Church clasped Airi's forearm to help himself stand, her grin quickly turned to a pained grimace, and he finally noticed her gruesome injury.

"A-Airi! Your arm... what happened?"

The redheaded woman looked down at her right arm with a look of disbelief: almost as if the bloody gash that marred her usually flawless skin surprised her as much as it did Church.

Disregarding his considerable agony, Church quickly got to his feet so that he could examine the injury. He gingerly clutched her arm at the elbow and wrist to avoid touching the wound. Airi resisted for a brief moment, but quickly gave up her efforts and allowed Church to worry about her. The look on her face spoke volumes about Airi's exhaustion: she was clearly too tired to really argue with him.

With the best analysis that he could make without proper equipment, Church decided that Airi's wound wasn't fatal and probably wouldn't scar, but there would be a good chance of infection if it wasn't treated. Coming to this conclusion, he remembered a little gift Alleyne had given him before his brutal fight with Echidna. Reaching his bruised arm behind his back, he withdrew a roll of linen bandages from his rear pocket. Alleyne had told him that they were sterile, although how she could assure that without modern medicine was beyond him.

Seeing the item he had grabbed caused Airi to frown and tug her arm away from Church once more, but his firm grip held her in place, and she gave up the futile resistance. Church noted that Airi had yet to say a single word: her exhaustion must've been mental as well. Church pushed the thought from his mind as he contemplated how to best treat her wound.

He muttered to himself as he tore off as much of the bandage as he would need. "Man, how am I going to clean this thing?"

Melona must've heard him, and offered an idea that was both useless and ridiculous. "Why not wash it in the lake?"

Church noticed Airi considering it, and he shook his head and pushed her away from the lake edge. "No, very bad idea. Who knows what kind of pathogens are in that water? It'd be better for me to just wipe it down with the bandages..."

Melona put a finger on her chin and made a questioning face. "What's a... pathogen?"

"It's like a germ."

The look of confusion on the girl's face intensified. "What's a germ?"

Church shook his head as he began dabbing at Airi's wound with a wad of sterile bandages, causing the woman he was treating to flinch in pain whenever he touched her. "Never mind. It's not really important."

Taking note of a lack of any kind of ointment or medicine, Church began to move off towards one of the many trees Alleyne had identified as having leaves with medicinal properties. Motioning to the two girls, he said, "Wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes."

* * *

><p>Church, having temporarily left their side, left the two servants alone together. Melona took the opportunity to question Airi about her condition.<p>

"Airi, what's up with your arm? Shouldn't that have healed by now?"

Airi shook her head from side to side lethargically. "I... don't have enough energy... to heal it."

Melona cocked an eyebrow at her, as if that was a stupid explanation. "Well then go get some! You do it all the time."

Her comment only garnered her a look of annoyance from the weary wraith. "It's not that... simple."

"Of course it is! You can just take some from Church. He's-"

This time Airi's response came with more energy. "No, absolutely not! I... I wouldn't do that to him. Not to him..."

Melona frowned. "I don't see what the problem is: you don't have to take a lot. Besides, you've said before that life force regenerates, so what harm is it gonna do?"

Airi scowled at her friend. "That's not the point Melona! He doesn't deserve to be used that way... besides, I want him to stay as far away from anything to do with the Swamp Witch as possible."

Melona began picking off the white feathers she had stuck to her body. "Well what are you going to do if she just orders you to bring him to her, or even kill him or something?"

Airi's eyes widened in shock as she realized what a serious possibility that was. It hadn't occurred to her until now, but under the obedience spell, Airi would have no choice but to do as she was told...

"She can't make a command like that if she doesn't know about him, Melona."

Melona gave her a questioning look. "Are you really doing this, Airi? You, so fanatically loyal, is trying to circumvent your duties as a loyal servant? Aren't you supposed to report everything?"

Airi looked down at the ground, agitation and uncertainty written all over her face. "Please, Melona, stop it. I don't... I can't... I don't know what to do. Just... leave it, alright?"

Seeing Church returning to the two of them, Melona took the last few moments of privacy to make a serious remark. "If you want to keep him away from her, Airi, then eventually you'll have to keep him away from us."

Airi made no response, either because she was afraid of Church hearing in his now close proximity, or simply because she had no reply to give.

* * *

><p>Church beamed as he exited the rim of trees that signaled the outskirts of the gargantuan forest that had been his home for nearly a month. Sure, he had many good memories of it and had become quite fond of the place, but in all honesty, he was sick of all the trees. Which was why what was before him made him smile so.<p>

His eyes were met with hilly, rolling plains of grass, the blades shifting to and fro in the winds that coursed through them. A clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds above, without any treetops to obscure its magnificence, welcomed him back to the outside world. Coming up from behind him, Melona did a fine job of enthusiastically putting his thoughts into words.

"Woohoo! No more trees! Finally!"

The excited girl ran out to the top of the hill that the trio of companions stood on and tossed herself down the hill, rolling down it with a passion only an over-exaggerating girl like herself could muster. Airi said nothing as she came to stand next to Church and watch their mutual friend frolic in the fresh grass.

She had spoken very little since being reunited with Church and heading for the forest's edge: Church had, at first, believed it was because her arm pained her, but that had become an unlikely possibility. In all of the hours since he had treated her injury, Airi had shown little to no signs of discomfort, and had only stared at the ground with a furrowed brow, as though she were brooding over a distasteful thought. He had also noticed that her complexion was much paler than he remembered. She had a sort of pallid look about her that pointed to sickness; yet nothing had happened to show any signs of less than optimal health.

Needless to say, her condition worried Church to no small extent. Her usual personality was buried under the muck of somber and introverted thoughts, and Church would have given anything to find out what they were.

"Airi?"

The woman he questioned made no response, but instead merely shifted her dreary gaze to Church, to show that she was listening. Her injured arm, wrapped in medicinal leaves that Alleyne had shown him as well as the bandages she had provided for him, hung limply at her side, apparently not causing her any discomfort.

"Are you alright? You've been acting a little strange; is it your arm?"

Her response came slowly. "...no."

"Well then what's wrong?"

"...nothing."

Church cocked an eyebrow at her, and examined her more closely. The only thing he could notice was that her eyes seemed to lack focus. Yes, she was looking in his direction, but she wasn't looking _at _him. It was worrisome, to say the least.

"So then everything's okay? You're not hurting anywhere, or feeling sick or something?"

"...no."

Church sighed. He obviously wasn't going to get Airi to admit to him what was bothering her. So instead he took a step forward and hugged the girl tenderly.

"Okay then. But if something is wrong, you have to tell me, alright?"

A bit of focus returned to her gaze as Airi blushed a little and looked away from the man that hugged her. "I-I'm fine... please...let go."

Church stepped back from her, afraid that he had overstepped his boundaries. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Airi just shook her head forlornly, turning away from Church and then following Melona down the grassy hill. Church followed her with his eyes, watching the back of someone who was clearly struggling with something. He wanted to help her, but she wouldn't let him get close enough to figure out the actual problem.

He turned his gaze back to the forest behind him, overcome by sadness. Back there were his other friends, ones who had helped and protected him for over month. He even counted Echidna among them now, despite the many sore bruises she had left him with. And Nowa, who he hadn't gotten the chance to say a proper goodbye to, was back there as well. She had helped him through some tight spots, her encouraging words carrying him onward when he needed it.

And Alleyne... he wasn't sure how he felt about her. Their last moments together had been intimate, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. His feelings right now were a confused jumble of things; old friends, new friends, the past, the future, Airi and Alleyne... He didn't know what to make sense of first. All he knew was that he had left Alleyne with a promise he may not be able to keep. And for some reason, the thought of breaking his promise to that woman stabbed him in the heart like a fiery dagger.

Nanael and Hachiel hovered over the scene below them, one indifferent to the situation and the other very uncomfortable with it.

"Who would've thought... is that man in league with the Swamp Witch?"

Nanael yawned, faking exhaustion from her fight many hours prior. "More like another of her stupid monkey servants."

Hachiel looked at her friend incredulously. "Nanael, do you not understand how serious this is? If that man is with the Swamp Witch, then it is highly likely that those elves are too! And now he's protected by those two... how are we supposed to question him now?"

Nanael smirked at her. "Well according to you, you had him in your grasp earlier. So how did things turn out like this?"

Hachiel's face flushed, having been caught in a mistake. "T-they were having a very personal moment! I didn't want to be rude!"

Nanael sighed. "And look where that got us! Now we have to follow them to who knows where! Aw... I'm sick of this assignment already..."

Hachiel folded her arms as she berated her friend. "Geez, Nanael, you're so lazy! Keep this up and you'll be in the Netherworld in no time..."

Nanael's countenance turned somber at the mention of such an outcome. "That's not funny, Hachi..."

"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You know I won't let that happen to you, Nanael. But I need your help to make it happen."

Nanael put on a face of confidence and raised her fist into the air. "Yeah! Alright then, let's do this! C'mon, let's go take them on right now!"

It amazed Hachiel how quickly Nanael's mood could change. Needless to say, it took all of her strength to restrain her eager companion.

* * *

><p><strong>So there we are, a short chapter to counteract the previous long one. Don't forget the question mentioned above!<strong>


	15. What's Best for You

**This chapter has now been rewritten for the enjoyment of its readers.**

* * *

><p>"…up."<p>

Church disregarded the vague voice that called out to him and rolled onto his back, trying to stay asleep and ignore whoever was trying to awaken him.

"…wake up…"

Church's eyes remained closed as he furrowed his brow and muttered a reply to the anonymous voice. "…ugh, go away…"

"Church…wake up!"

Church bolted upright as the soft, distinctly male voice suddenly bellowed at him in annoyance. Before the flailing soldier could say anything in response, his opened eyes noticed his surroundings in surprise. He was surrounded by darkness and strange stellar constellations, and unusual obsidian pillars floated all around him. Looking down at his feet, Church realized that he was floating as well.

"Whoa!" Was all he could say as he reached his arms out for the nearest floating pillar and clutched onto it, out of fear that he would fall into the space-like abyss below him.

"W-where am I?!"

He had uttered the question to himself, but Church received an answer anyway.

"That is unimportant. What is important right now is what I have to tell you. Listen."

Church looked in all directions for the speaker of the calm and serene male voice, but he couldn't see anyone. "Who are you? Or where are you, more importantly?"

He was answered by a deep and gentle voice. "This is the voice of God…"

"S-seriously?"

Rumbling laughter cascaded into Church's ear from every direction. "No. I'm kidding, as your kind like to say. My name is Daedalus."

Church cocked an incredulous eyebrow, surprised and somewhat worried that an invisible man in his head was pranking him in some unknown dimension. "Dae…dalus? What kind of name is that?"

The unseen orator humphed. "Well, what kind of name is Church? That's the name of a congregation or a building, not a person. Maybe if your name was Churchill, like Winston Churchill, it would make sense, but your name is just Church."

Church frowned. "Mmm… Touché. Wait… how do you know about Winston Churchill? He's-"

"The Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War Two? Yes he was: I'm surprised you care to remember history at all, after NOVA and all."

"But how do you know all of this? That history is from my world…"

The voice uttered its rumbling laugh once again. "That it is. But then again, I know a great many things about your world. I'd have to, since I'm the one who brought you here."

"Brought me? What do you mean?"

The voice gained a drawling tone as it began its response. "You are Jacob Church, age twenty-one, born in Berlin, Germany, but raised by your parents in the United States of America. When you were seven, your parents were both killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, after which you were taken into foster care because you had no close relatives to care for you. Your cousin, Mission, came to live with you soon after, and you two have been as close as blood siblings ever since."

Church was at a loss for words. "T-that's…"

"At age fourteen, you and your pseudo-sister were recruited by The Legion, an experimental military cell that disregarded age and coveted your natural sharpshooting gift. You met your best friend, Kyle, at the training camp, and have had a deep friendship ever since. You and your sister both performed superbly in the Legion for the next four years, until an unexpected and catastrophic series of core flares from the center of your planet covered the surface in radiation and destroyed the world as you knew it. For two years, you and your sister survived in the new irradiated world, until the lead surviving scientists and engineers from around the planet completed New Eden, a safe cocoon from the devastated world below that houses the last vestiges of humanity. That is who you are, yes?"

Church nodded, astounded by this stranger's knowledge of his life. "Y-yeah…"

"Excellent! With the way you were behaving, I was starting to think I had summoned the wrong person! That's a relief!"

Church scratched his head while holding onto the floating obsidian pillar with the other. "Well obviously you did, 'cause I didn't get the memo about being 'summoned' anywhere."

More rumbling laughter echoed throughout the empty dimension. Apparently this invisible being laughed a lot. "Of course you didn't 'get the memo'! Do you have any idea how much energy it took to bring you here? Five hundred years of the eight centuries I spent gathering it, at least! Actually talking to you across dimensions would have sucked me dry. Luckily your mission in Greenland provided the perfect opportunity to bring you here, as-"

Church cut off the voice upon hearing that. "Provided the opportunity?! Are you saying that you orchestrated that whole situation?! My sister could be-!"

Daedalus overpowered Church's outrage with his incredibly loud voice. "Calm down, Church. Your sister and squad are both completely unharmed. I protected them from the explosion that served as the portal to bring you here."

Church grumbled aloud. "Well nice job protecting me: I remember having a hole ripped in my side by flaming shrapnel, but apparently that doesn't count as something I need to be protected from."

Daedalus sounded slightly offended. "Hey, I did my best! There was a lot of shrapnel, and I protected your sister and your teammates! Isn't that enough? I have been shielding you during your journey ever since you arrived."

"Shielding me?" Church said incredulously. "Do you know how many times I've been beaten to a pulp in the last two months? How many people have tried to kill me? And what about that rock-slide? How'd you protect me from that?!"

Daedalus laughed once again: it was starting to get incredibly annoying. "Well, actually I caused that rockslide, so that doesn't really count…"

"You _caused _it!?"

Daedalus responded cheerily. He sounded like an eccentric old man who had never lost his spark. "Yes, but I did protect you from the ensuing carnage. Besides, if I hadn't done it, you would have never met your pointy-eared friends, now would you?"

Church knew that was probably true. "So you nearly killed me just so I could make some friends?"

Another booming roar of laughter. "I suppose I did, didn't I? But I think you're OK with it. I already know you miss them, and would gladly fall off of another cliff if it meant you could see them again."

"I-I suppose…"

Daedalus' voice lowered to a softer tone. "All three of them are fine, you know. Tired, stressed, and sad, but fine. And you'll see them again: I plan on it."

Church laughed sarcastically in response. "Oh, you plan on it? Tell me, oh grand designer, was it part of your plan for me to ruin their lives? I basically got them exiled from their own home…"

Daedalus sighed. "Yes, you did. And no, I didn't want that to happen. I did want them to leave the forest, but not because of something like what happened. However, you meeting them was no accident: you will need their strength and their friendship in the future. The same goes for your current companions."

Church responded venomously. "Oh, you want me to screw everything up for them too? And what's your grand plan for that?"

Daedalus sounded slightly irritated and even a little angry as he countered Church's negative reply. "Some sacrifices will be necessary in the days to come. For if they are not offered to fate, this whole continent, and all of its people, will be doomed to a fate worse than death. I have brought you here because you have a special ability few men possess. With your help, the future can be molded into a happier time for everyone; including Airi and Melona, your elven friends, and many others you have yet to meet."

Church smirked. "Yeah? What special ability do I have, good sir? Please, do explain."

Daedalus sighed. "Heart. That is the ability that you have. Kindness, caring, concern for your fellow man: qualities of a pure soul if ever there was one."

Church answered with a bitter snicker. "Pure soul? Do you have any idea how many people I've killed?"

"Indeed I do. But were they innocent people, or wicked villains that threatened your friends, family, and countrymen? You slew your enemies for the sake of the ones you loved. You risked your life to protect those you cared about. That is not evil, wicked, or impure. That is courageous, determined, and caring."

Church said nothing in reply. Although he hated to admit it, he liked to hear himself spoken well of like this. "Not all conflict is immoral, you know. Sometimes, conflict is inevitable. As long as you fight for the right reasons, as you do, then you have no reason to degrade yourself over what you do. You have a special agenda Church: one that I have summoned you here for."

Church cocked an eyebrow, still holding onto the pillar that made him feel secure in this limbo world. "And what is this agenda? What do you want from me?'

Daedalus laughed once again, but it was softer and sounded more tiresome than it had before. "For that answer you must wait. I grow tired, as it costs me much energy to hold this link with you from where I am. Suffice to say that you are here to protect the weak, and mold a better future for those you will come to love."

Church wanted to say something, as he knew that this conversation was coming to a close. He had to learn more. "H-hold on! I don't understand!"

There was another chorus of rumbling laughter, more jolly and energized than previously. "Of course you don't! But worry not, Church. I will explain everything to you in good time, when I know you are ready."

"How will you know when I'm ready? What makes me ready?"

As Daedalus made his final response, Church could hear his voice growing weaker, as if he were moving farther away. "I will know. Now if I'm not mistaken, someone is waiting for you back in the wakeful world. Don't keep her waiting!"

That was the last Church heard from the mysterious voice before the world around him started to crumble. The pillars began disintegrating, and the air around him was literally cracking, causing a deafening cascade of sound all around him. It took only a split second for everything to collapse, smothering him in darkness.

* * *

><p>Church jolted into wakefulness and wrapped his arms around the nearest object, hoping it was that obsidian pillar that he had been clinging to a few moments ago. As he buried his face into something soft and strangely gelatinous feeling, he realized what he was holding onto was certainly not a hard, floating pillar.<p>

As he heard the giggle that emanated from his unfortunate (Or perhaps she thought otherwise?) victim, Church turned his face away from what he had buried it into and looked up at Melona, who was grinning slyly.

"You know Church: I'm starting to think that you just pretend to sleep until I'm close to you just so you can shove your face in lewd places. That's not true, is it?"

Church blushed and removed his face from where he had accidentally stuck it upon waking from his fitful slumber. "Or maybe you wait until you're close enough for me to do it before waking me up, because you like using my reflexes for your entertainment?"

The pink-clad girl giggled cheerily once again. "Your reflexes? So you're a subconscious pervert then, huh?"

Saying nothing to defend himself, Church merely rolled his eyes at Melona's merciless teasing. In doing so, he spotted Airi off to his left, sitting cross-legged on a large stump that probably used to be a tree similar to the ones back in Syrinidell. She looked like a zombie, which was probably the result of a lack of sleep, and not some obscure virus that conspiracy theorists back at home always claimed was infecting New Eden.

Airi rested her chin on her hand, and her usually vibrant emerald eyes, now a murky, glazed over green, stared aimlessly into space. It irritated Church to no extent that he knew something was wrong with her, and yet he could do nothing about it because Airi refused to tell him what it was. Didn't she trust him?

"Worried about her?"

Church turned to face Melona, who had pulled his attention away from Airi's condition. "Of course I am. I just shoved my face into your tits and she didn't even throw a displeased glance over here. That's an obvious sign that something is wrong."

Melona smiled at the humorous comment, but the seriousness of the subject kept her from laughing. "Yeah… I'm sure she's thinking about things that aren't exactly pleasant. Airi's usually in a pretty good mood, but when she gets depressed, she gets _really_ depressed. She's totally out of it with that 'doom and gloom and we're all gonna die anyway' attitude."

Church frowned. "But why? She's been like this ever since we left the forest. Did something happen while we were separated? Something that made her like this?"

Melona scratched her head nonchalantly, but the look on her face had tension written all over it. "Not exactly…"

"So there is something! What is it?"

Melona smiled at him again, but it wasn't the cheery kind or even the creepy kind he had come to dislike: it was the apologetic kind that meant someone was lying to your face.

"Well maybe she just misses all of the trees. Airi's one of those people that really likes nature, you know?"

Church scowled at her. "Tell me the truth, Melona. I'm not stupid."

Melona sighed. "Look, what's bothering Airi is a personal thing… and if she doesn't wanna tell you, I'm not going to either."

Church replied bitterly. "If it's so personal, how come you know about it?"

"Whoa, hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Church continued. "Well I seem to be the only person left out of things in our little band of musketeers. Where are we travelling to, guys? Oh what, it's a secret? Where are you from? Oh, you won't tell me that either? What's wrong with Airi? Whoops, it's personal, go figure! You two never tell me anything! Why is that, Melona?"

Melona stumbled to find a suitable response. "W-well…"

Church angrily pushed for an answer. "No answer huh? C'mon Melona, I'm just asking why!"

"B-because…"

"Why don't you two trust me?!"

"Shut up!" Melona exploded angrily.

Church quieted down, disappointed in himself for pushing Melona so far, but only slightly.

After a few moments spent calming herself, Melona continued. "If you're so damn curious, just go ask her yourself! But if she hurts your feelings, or tells you something you don't want to hear, don't say I didn't warn you!"

At that the angry girl stormed off, and Church was left alone in the copse of trees that the trio of stressed friends had made camp in. He knew he was alone because he had just now noticed that Airi had disappeared during the argument between him and Melona. He sighed and face-palmed himself: he was only making things worse than they already were. Now he had to confront Airi and mend his relationship with Melona, which he had done a fine job of mucking up just now.

However, he figured Melona needed some time to simmer down, so he would deal with her later. Church rose to his feet, and began to search for Airi, who he had decided was going to tell him what was wrong no matter what. Wrapped up in all of his thoughts about his two friends, Church's dream with Daedalus was all but forgotten.

* * *

><p>Airi leaned against one of the trees that made up this small copse on the edge of the grassy plains she and her friends had covered over the past few days. She briefly wondered if Church had done something similar for a large portion of the month he had spent in the forest. It was a fleeting distraction however, and her thoughts quickly returned to brooding on her situation with Master, Church, and herself.<p>

In the mire of sadness and depression that she was buried in, she didn't hear the approaching footsteps behind her until it was too late to hide from them. And unfortunately, it wasn't Melona, because these footsteps didn't have the light pitter-patter that usually accompanied hers.

Airi rose to her feet to get ready to deflect all of Church's petty questions about her thoughts. Hopefully she could convince him that she wanted to be left alone with relative ease. As his footsteps halted a few feet away from her, Airi turned to face her worried companion.

"I don't want to talk about this right now, Church."

"When will you ever?"

Airi sighed. "I don't know, but it isn't now."

"You're only saying that to dissuade me. You don't really plan on ever telling me, do you?"

"Not really, no. So why don't you stop worrying about it already?"

Church scowled at her. "Just stop worrying about it? You're half out of it most of the day, you've hardly spoken a word since we left the forest, and damn if it doesn't look like you're depressed twenty-four seven! How can you expect me to just shrug that off, Airi?"

Airi turned her head away from his critical stare as she answered. "I...I don't want to talk about this right now…"

"I don't care what you want!"

Airi flinched at Church's unexpected outburst. He was usually more tactful about these things. Airi was rendered temporarily speechless, giving Church an opportunity to continue.

"Look, maybe you want to keep this to yourself and bottle it up: maybe that's what you want. But what people want isn't always what's best for them. So for this, this one situation, I don't care what you want, Airi. I just care about you. I don't know what's bothering you, but I can tell that it's something serious. Don't you trust me enough to at least tell me about it?"

Church's voice exuded a tone of great sadness, and his last remark made Airi suddenly realize that her silence had been inadvertently hurting Church because he thought she didn't trust him. That hadn't been her intention, but it had clearly happened anyway. She knew she had to fix this, but it would take several embarrassing moments between the two of them.

"Do you really mean that, Church? Is the reason you're so persistent about this…because you care about me?"

Church scratched the back of his head, a subconscious mannerism whenever he was embarrassed. "Y-yeah, of course. I mean, we're friends… aren't we? Shouldn't we look out for each other?"

Airi smiled slightly. "Yes… yes we should. But even so…"

Church furrowed his brow at hearing her say that. "Even so what?"

Airi sighed again, and then took a few steps forward to wrap Church in a hug. His face flushed red as she did so, and he stammered to say something, but Airi cut him off before he could.

"Do you trust me Church? Do you trust that I'm your friend, and that I care about you?"

He gave it a moment of brief thought. "…Yes. Of course I do."

Airi looked into his blue eyes, and she thought about how alluring the deep color was: it reminded her of the ocean, although she had only seen that once before. "Then please try to understand this. No matter how much I do or don't trust you, and no matter how much we do care about each other… there are just some things I can't tell you."

"But-!"

Airi cut him off before he could protest. "Church, please. I know that you're worried about me: and I'm really glad that you are. You don't know how happy it makes me just to know that you care enough to get angry with me. Besides, even if there are some things I can't tell you, I want you to know that I will never hide something from you if it puts you in danger."

Church stared back into Airi's emerald eyes as he answered. "But I'm not worried about my well-being, Airi. I'm worried about yours."

Airi smiled sadly. She was sad because she had to keep secrets from this man, but she was also happy that Church cared for her at least this much. "I know. But even now, I still can't tell you."

"Airi-"

"But I want you to know that no matter what, I'll never let anything happen to you. Even if you're totally oblivious to the danger around you, I'll protect you. OK?"

Church nodded, embarrassment written all over his face. Airi didn't want an awkward silence to ensue now, so she made a jest to lighten the situation.

"And if you ever wake up like you did this morning when I come to get you, I'll break your nose. Got it?"

The two of them chcukled together, but it was cut short when Airi's knees buckled and she collapsed into Church's arms.

"Whoa, Airi, what was that? Are you alright?"

Airi struggled to get back on her feet, blushing furiously the whole time. "I-I'm fine! It's nothing!"

Church helped her regain her balance before giving her a sarcastic look. "So 'nothing' made you fall over like that?"

Airi turned her eyes away from him. "T-this is one of those things I can't tell you about…"

Church looked down to the ground in irritation, but he said nothing. Airi on the other hand, was wondering just how much longer she was going to last without replenishing her energy.

"H-hey, Church?"

"Yeah?"

Inwardly, Airi berated herself for doing what she was about to do, but she knew she had no choice. "If you could help me out, even if it was… a little harmful for you, would you do it?"

Church didn't even spare a moment to think about it. "Of course I would. Why?"

Airi knew that without the details, Church would probably not agree so readily, but she needed life force and she also needed to keep her secrets. The redheaded girl reluctantly leaned forward and planted her lips on the cheek of the fortunate guy in front of her, and held it for a few seconds. Of course he didn't know it, but the wraith was draining the small amount of life force she would need from Church to last her the next few days.

When she finally broke away from the contact, she noticed the red that had climbed all the way to Church's ears as he stammered to find words. The silliness of his look made Airi giggle.

"W-w-what was that for!?"

The maid grinned at him slyly. "Are you complaining?"

"N-no! B-but still…"

Airi quickly made up a lie to diffuse the situation, but it wiped the grin off her face knowing that she was lying to Church once again. "It was just a little thank you for caring so much. Would you prefer a handshake next time instead?"

Church waved his arms in front of him frantically. "N-no, t-this is fine! Wait…n-next time?!"

Airi began to retreat in the general direction of the camp, waving at him as she went. "Don't forget to go talk to Melona too. But do it tomorrow: it'll be safer that way."

Church said nothing in reply as Airi turned her back on him, but she knew that Church would somehow fix his situation with Melona. Based off of the conversation she had just shared with him, Airi had discovered that Church had a special talent when it came to people. And because of it, she would spend her next few days quite a bit more cheerfully.

* * *

><p><strong>Minor changes throughout this chapter, hardly worth mentioning.<strong>


	16. Troubling Times

**This chapter is now rewritten. Enjoy.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Church trudged wearily along a beaten dirt path alongside his two companions, whose countenances had been reversed from what they had been yesterday. While Airi now had a cheery grin on her face as she walked along, Melona's countenance was a storm cloud: a pink, bunny-eared storm cloud.<p>

Church thought it was ironic that he was the cause of both of the girls' behavior. On one hand, he had pulled Airi our of her depressive rut, but on the other he had caused Melona to spend this morning in seething anger. This anger was no doubt directed at him, which he found to be greatly worrying. Church knew what Airi was capable of when she was angry with him, but Melona's powers of punishment had yet to be discovered.

And so Church walked between his two comrades, one happy and the other angry, and he felt like he was in the middle of a calm day and a hurricane. He noticed Melona shooting him menacing glares every once in a while, and Church decided to distract himself by talking with Airi instead. He leaned in close to whisper to her so Melona wouldn't hear him.

"I thought you said I'd be safer today..."

Airi shrugged and whispered back to him. "Safety is completely relative, Church. You're slightly less endangered than you were yesterday. So relatively speaking, you are safer today."

"A lot of a difference that makes, Airi..."

Airi smiled a little at his discomfort. At least she didn't seem worried about Melona actually killing him or anything. Church sighed and turned his thoughts to something that would distract him from his plight. He didn't have a hard time keeping up with his two traveling friends anymore: Alleyne's workouts and conditioning had made sure of that. Unfortunately, thinking of that made him think of her, and thinking of her made him think of Nowa, and both of those combined reminded him of how much he missed those two.

Church appreciated his friendship with Airi and Melona, but the relations he had with Alleyne and Nowa were not the same. Theirs was more... well, he couldn't think of an actual word for it, but Church knew that all of his time in Syrinidell, minus the day of the fight with Echidna and his subsequent flight from the forest, had been less stressful than his last few days with his old company. Alleyne and Nowa had been much more gentle and caring than Airi and Melona had ever been...

Church berated himself vehemently as he realized just what he was thinking. What was he saying? Of course Airi and Melona cared about him, intheir own way. They had sacrificed weeks of their valuable time to 'rescue' him. How could he even think such a negative thing about two people who obviously cared enough about him to spend valuable time and effort on his safety?

Church shook his head in disgust at his own thoughts. When he finally returned his attention to his surroundings, he noticed that Airi had fallen behind her two companions. He turned his head to look back down the road, and saw Airi firmly rooted in place several feet back, a look of consternation plastered on her face as she stared at the ground.

"Airi? Is something wrong?"

The redhead snapped out of her temporary attention lapse and looked up at him. "Huh? Oh... it's... it's nothing. I have to go do something real quick, why don't you two keep going?"

Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "What could you possibly need to do that requires you to hang back here?"

Airi shot him a look of annoyance. "None of your business, Church."

"Well I think it is." He countered.

Airi clenched her hands in frustration and offered Church a slight glare. "Look Church, this is kind of a personal thing..."

"How personal?"

At this last question, Airi exploded. "God dammit Church, I have to go to the bathroom!"

Church said nothing as he felt himself blush because of the awkward situation. Airi stared at him irritably, waiting for the info to sink in.

"Ah...I-I see... Well, um... have at it then?"

Airi sighed. "Just shut up, Church. Just stop talking."

He nodded. "Good idea."

At that the redhead turned to walk off the road and into one of the side forests.

Church turned back towards Melona and left Airi to her... 'business.' He cast a brief glance in Melona's direction, expecting to find an amused smirk or some such thing on her face, but he was only met with a bitter mask that glared at him angrily.

Alarmed, Church realized that his 'old soldier' sixth sense was tingling. He was in danger: he could feel it. And not like the danger when Airi was mad at him because of one of his many clumsy accidents either. Of course this uncomfortable vibe was coming from Melona. Was she really so angry with him that he was in physical danger?

Perturbed, Church decided to walk ahead like Airi had suggested, and leave Melona to fume behind him. He began to walk forward when his chest was suddenly consumed by a burst of pain spreading from his cracked sternum. Burning fire spread throughout his body as Church clutched his chest and fell to his knees in agony. He managed to stay upright on his knees for a moment, but the sheer pain clawing its way through him forced his body into the dirt. He struggled to rise, but such an action only caused more waves of pain and spurts of coughed up blood.

Church's vision began to gradually darken as he gasped for air on the dirt road. The wave of painful tremors was ravaging his body, and its natural self-defense system was to shut down. And in the last few moments of consciousness, he noticed Melona's pink-clad feet walking right past him: she obviously had no intention of helping.

* * *

><p>Airi sighed as she searched for a pond, stream, or some other body of water out in the woods. Such a thing would be needed if she were to set up the scrying spell that Master used to contact her.<p>

She had lied to Church again: of course she wasn't out here to relieve herself. Airi had sensed the vague mental intrusion back on the road that meant her Master wished to speak with her. Obviously Melona had not, or she would have come as well, but that was for the best. With Melona around to distract Church, he was less likely to snoop on her while she was contacting her Master.

After a few moments of fruitless searching, coupled with an annoying itch at the base of her skull that signified Master's impatience, Airi came upon a small brook that would suffice for what she needed. The wraith stopped a few feet away from it, an unfamiliar conflict arising within her conscience.

_What if Master asks about something I don't want her to know? I'm supposed to tell her everything, but if she asks a question that puts Church in danger..._

The conflict between Airi's loyalty and personal feelings lasted for several moments, before the itch in her mind became too powerful to ignore. Master was done waiting: Airi's audience was required immediately.

The obedient servant made her way to the bank of the brook, crouched down and muttered a few incantations that Master had provided her with. Once she was done with it, the water of the brook in front of her began to shift abnormally, swirling to and fro for several moments, until it became still and turned pitch black. It took only a brief moment for the ghostly red, flaming apparition of the Swamp Witch to appear in the altered water.

"Airi."

"Yes, Master?"

The flaming face flared momentarily, an obvious sign that her Master was displeased. "Where are you? You were to return several weeks ago. What makes you dare to defy my commands?"

Airi averted her gaze, ashamed of failing her Master in something so simple. "There were...delays, Master. Several unfortunate accidents that-"

"I have no interest in hearing your excuses!"

Airi flinched, the anger from the Witch's ghastly voice easily detectable, even from across this magic link. "M-my apologies, Master..."

The Witch went on unperturbed. "However, your pathetic failure may yet prove useful... since you are already abroad, I have a task that you three may perform."

Airi's eyes widened in surprise. Was it possible that the Swamp Witch already knew about Church? But how? "T-three?"

The Witch responded irritably, as if Airi's question was completely nonsensical. "Yes, three, now that Menace has returned: there are three of you, are there not?"

Airi had a brief moment of inward relief, as she realized that her master had simply assumed that Menace was once again under her thumb. "O-of course. What would you have us do?"

"There is a message that I must have delivered. I must garner more powerful allies if I am to succeed in the future... make your way to the Vance lands. You will deliver a message to their Count."

Airi wondered what Master was thinking. Surely she didn't think that the Vance family would actually join forces with her. "Master, are you sure? Maybe our efforts would be better spent elsewhere..."

"You dare question me?!"

Airi flinched. "N-no! I was merely suggesting-"

"I did not release you from Hades to suggest things to me! You are here only to obey!"

Airi bowed apologetically. "Y-yes Master, I'll go right away!"

"Stay where you are."

Airi froze midway through getting up. She could hear something threatening in her master's voice, something she was eager to avoid. Already scared, Airi said nothing as she obeyed her master and stayed still.

"...there is conflict in you... I can feel it. There is something you are not telling me, Airi."

_Dammit! How did she know? _

"Master, I would never hide anything from you."

"You lie. If you wish for your punishment to be less severe, then I suggest you tell me the truth."

Airi's mind raced with inward arguments defending both positions.

_I have to tell her! She's ordering me to, and I don't want to be punished again... but if she finds out about Church... I would never forgive myself if she used him!  
><em>

"Speak Airi! Do not defy me!"

The pressure on Airi's mind kept building until she couldn't think anymore, and she blurted out something unexpected. "Menace isn't with us! We couldn't get her to come back! I'm sorry..."

Airi could actually feel Master seething with anger. "Useless... can you not do anything?!"

"I'm sorry, M-"

"Silence! Hold your tongue!"

Airi silenced herself immediately, lest she incur her master's wrath any more than she already had. The Swamp Witch continued, the rage barely contained within her voice. "You had better not fail your new task. If you prove to be as worthless as I feel you are becoming, I will simply return you to hell."

Airi did not need a reminder of the horrors she had experienced during her brief existence in the underworld. Being sent back there terrified Airi more than anything else. "No! Please Master, I can't... I'll do anything, but please, spare me that at least!"

"Then succeed, if you are so fearful! Let your terror drive you! Now begone from my sight: you have angered me beyond reason with your pathetic failures."

Airi said nothing as the connection with Master was finally severed. It wasn't until then that she realized she had tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away, knowing that the sheer terror at the thought of being returned to Hades had been the cause of them.

She knelt alongside the brook for a few minutes in order to regain her composure. Once she had accomplished that, Airi had a peculiar realization. She had _lied_ to the Swamp Witch. Well, she had told the truth about failing to bring Menace back, but she had used that truth to lie about what she really wanted to keep hidden.

The redhead looked down at her hands questioningly, as if they would tell her what was amiss. She had withheld the truth from her Master: did that mean that her obedience spell had worn off without her knowing it? A few moments of soul-searching for the binding curse confirmed otherwise. The influence of the obedience spell had indeed waned, but it was definitely still there, which meant that Airi must have found a loophole in the weakened spell.

The wraith smiled to herself: something about blatant disobedience was... exhilarating. However, the obedience spell still had power over her for the moment, and Airi currently had an incredibly irritating itch in the back of her mind that urged her to proceed to the Vance estate as her master had ordered.

Airi briefly noted that for a supposed bathroom break, she had been gone for quite awhile. No doubt Church, and even Melona, were wondering where she was. Rising to her feet and dusting off her thigh-highs, the enslaved woman began to make her way back to the road, with a new objective in mind.

* * *

><p>"Hey! I think he's waking up, get over here!"<p>

Church groaned, keeping his eyes closed as he braced himself for the waves of pain that were no doubt about to wash over him: but none did. He cracked one eye open and peeked down at his prone body, checking for any damage. From what he could see, everything was fine, except for two pairs of feet he didn't recognize that were standing beside him.

He traced these unknown feet up a pair of equally unknown legs, until he laid eyes upon two obviously unknown people. Two girls in stark white clothing with blue and pink hair (It just now occurred to him that hair could apparently be any color of the spectrum in this world), with... angel...wings?

Church connected as many dots as he could, attempting to make sense of things. Perhaps he had died, and he was being welcomed into Heaven by two cute angels? That wasn't so bad. And after the elves, the existence of heavenly beings wasn't really a surprise.

But his conclusion was voided as soon as the blue-haired one kicked him in the ribs. That didn't seem like a very friendly thing for an angel to do. "Hey, are you awake yet? I can't tell."

Her companion swatted her on the shoulder. "Don't do that Nanael! I just got done healing all of his injuries! You're making more work for me!"

The other angel shrugged. "Who cares? You like to work anyway, Hachi: you're always bragging about doing it."

Church cut into the conversation as he sat up and rubbed his side. "I agree with the pink one, don't do that."

The blue one supposedly called Nanael humphed. "Of course you would agree with her. Everyone agrees with her. Why doesn't anyone ever agree with me?"

Her angelic friend smirked. "Because, they know you better than this human does: they have a good reason to not agree with you."

The clearly more aggressive angel frowned. "Shut up, Hachi, that's not true. I mean c'mon, I'm pretty awe-"

Church interrupted the little quarrel with a tone of annoyance. "Look, as much as I love to watch two very... _unique_ angels argue with each other, I'm really lost and confused. Where am I, and who are you two?"

The blue one cast him an irritated glance for interrupting her. However, her pink counterpart bowed apologetically and said, "Oh, forgive us for our rudeness. I am Hachiel, an angel in service to Heaven's Seraph."

The blue angel pushed her friend out of the way as she introduced herself. "And I'm Nanael, the most beautiful, amazing, and powerful angel in all of the universe! Oh, and let's not forget about how smart I am. The smartest, just so you know."

Hachiel rolled her eyes and shook her head, and since it seemed to Church that she was the more reasonable of the two, he took this to mean that Nanael was in fact none of those things, and was actually just over-glorifying herself.

Seeing that Nanael was done ranting about her incredible attributes, Hachiel continued to answer Church's other question. "You are not very far off from where we found you: merely a few leagues from the road you were traveling on when you collapsed."

Nanael built off of her answer. "As in when you collapsed, and your so called 'friend' left you there. It's a good thing we came along, huh?"

Church had shifted his focus to Nanael when she had started speaking again, and he got the feeling that something about her was peculiar. After a few brief moments comparing her to her pink-haired companion, he saw an obvious contrast, and spoke without putting much thought into his words.

"Have you been hurt? I think there's something wrong with your right wing..."

Hachiel blanched as Nanael's face filled with a mixture of hurt and anger. "There's nothing wrong with my damn wing! I was created that way, and why does it make a difference to you!? You've got a messed up knee don't you? You're no better than me!"

Hachiel stepped between her friend and Church. "Nanael, calm down! You know he didn't mean it that way!"

Church piped in behind her. "That's right: I'm sorry, Nanael, it was an insensitive question to ask. I didn't mean to offend you."

Nanael calmed herself to some degree, quickly burying the pain Church had seen in her eyes, but even so she was still seething a bit. However, he could tell that her anger wasn't necessarily directed at him, which was obviously good. She muttered under her breath, "Well you're pretty good-looking, so I guess I'll let it slide..."

Church realized something Nanael had said in her outburst that surprised him. "Hold on, how did you know about my knee?"

It was Hachiel that answered him. "We discovered it while I was healing you; you had four cracked ribs, a terribly sprained arm, a severe sternum fracture, some late-stage organ trauma, and a snapped tendon in your knee that never mended properly. You were quite bruised as well. It's a wonder that you were able to move at all. Weren't you in terrible pain?"

Church looked at her incredulously. "Not really no... I felt sore and like I hadn't slept in days, but I didn't feel pain anywhere near as crippling as I should have, if I really did have as many injuries as you said. Did you really heal all of them?"

Hachiel smiled. "It is most interesting that you felt so little pain. Rarely does a human have a tolerance for pain as high as an angel's without the blessing of an angel themselves... But regardless, yes, all of your injuries have been healed, with the exception of your knee: that wound has already had a flawed recovery, and it is too late for me to mend. But excluding that, you should be one-hundred percent healthy. Even any fatigue you were suffering from has been alleviated."

Church couldn't believe all of this. It was like a biblical miracle. "W-wow...I don't really know how to thank you..."

Nanael jabbed a finger at him. "Well you can start by telling us everything we want to know! First off, why do you work for the Sw-!"

Hachiel cut off her friend by placing a hand over her mouth. "I'll handle this, Nanael."

Shot down, Nanael scowled, but offered no argument. "Pfft. Fine."

Hachiel crouched down so that she would be eye-level with Church. "I just have a few questions for you. You don't have to answer them if you don't want to. Is that acceptable?"

Church nodded: sounded like fair terms to him. "Sure."

Hachiel smiled, no doubt pleased with his ready cooperation. "Great! So first off, where are you from?"

"Uh... America? Well actually Germany, but..."

Nanael interrupted him. "What the heck is 'America'? I've never heard of a place like that."

Church struggled to come up with a plausible explanation. "Um...well it's gone now, but it was a really large nation in the western hemisphere, home of democracy, hamburgers, and freedom. I guess it's like a really really big island, if you counted Canada and Mexico as a single land mass..."

Hachiel pondered over this for a brief moment. "An island nation? Like Hinomoto?"

Of course Church had no idea what a Hinomoto was, but it sounded Japanese, so he would assume that it was an oriental country or something. "Uh, yeah sure, I guess?"

Hachiel nodded, but she had a confused look on her face. She was clearly still wondering about his land of origin, which she had obviously never heard of.

"I see... well then, how old are you?"

Church cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why do you need to know that?"

Nanael answered before her friend could. "Just answer the question, would you?"

"Fine. I'm twenty-one."

Hachiel frowned at this. "Only twenty-one? That's only a year older than the current Queen..."

The way she said it, it sounded like a bad thing. "Is it wrong for me to be on the young side?"

Hachiel shook her head. "No, it's just that we expected one of your... 'profession' to be older."

Church must've lost track of things somewhere along the line of this conversation. "And what exactly is my... 'profession'?"

Nanael pointed a gloved finger at him accusingly. "Don't play dumb with us! We know what you are!"

Hachiel looked at her friend with annoyance. "We don't know that for sure yet. Don't jump to conclusions so readily, Nanael."

Finished reprimanding her, Hachiel turned back towards Church. "Hold still for a few moments, and then we can return you to your friends, alright?"

Church nodded. "Alright. As long as you don't suck out my soul or anything."

Nanael snorted. "We wouldn't be the ones to do that..."

Hachiel placed her fingers on Church's forehead, sending a pulse of energy through his skull that knocked him out cold immediately. She continued to hold the physical connection with him after gently lowering him to the ground. After several moments spent sifting through his memories and knowledge, Hachiel severed the connection and rose from the ground, a confused frown on her face.

"How strange..."

Nanael glanced at her questioningly. "What is it?"

Hachiel shook her head. "I'll tell you later. For now, we had better get him back to his companions before they notice his absence. Come on, grab his other arm."

* * *

><p>Airi finally stumbled out of the woods after having, much to her own dismay, lost herself in the maze of generic looking trees. She had rejected the idea of flying (lest Church see her doing so) to gather her bearings, and so returning to the dirt path she needed to get to had taken an unfortunate amount of time.<p>

She sighed to herself, thinking of all things that had transpired in the last few months, and all the things that were yet to come. Her life, or rather her afterlife, was not an easy one. Musing on such things, she proceeded to hasten along the dirt path that would hopefully let her catch up to Melona and Church. No doubt Church would have held up for her, even if Melona hadn't.

However, it was obvious that Church wasn't too terribly far ahead when Airi spotted him lying face-down in the road, seemingly dead, or asleep. Airi panicked as she thought of what could have happened. She hadn't been paying too much attention to his injuries from the forest: maybe he had collapsed because of them?

Airi ran up beside Church's fallen body, and knelt down to find his pulse in his neck. She breathed a sigh of relief as she noted a rhythmic, healthy-feeling tempo of blood circulating throughout his body. Now sure that he was not in fact dead, she rolled him onto his back and shook him in a successful attempt to wake him.

"W-what? Oh, Airi... what's wrong? You look bothered."

Airi frowned at him. ""You were lying unconscious in the road, Church. That's something that would bother me."

Church furrowed his brow in thought. "...Oh yeah! I must've passed out or something. Although I can't remember why..."

Airi looked around for Melona, but found no traces of her anywhere. "Where's Melona? Didn't she help you?"

Church frowned, as Melona was nowhere to be seen. "Evidently not."

"What the hell? That idiot had better get her head on straight..."

Church shook his head. "Whatever, Airi, forget about it: help me up instead."

Airi grabbed Church's hand and pulled him to his feet, and the two began walking down the path that Melona had disappeared on. After a few minutes of silent walking, Church popped a random question.

"Hey, Airi? What type of government does this country have?"

Airi cocked an eyebrow at him curiously. "A monarchy. Why?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno. Just something I thought of. So who's the current ruler?"

"Some girl called Aldra. She's like, twenty or something, but you wouldn't be able to tell from looking at her."

Church raised an eyebrow. "Oh? The ruler is a queen?"

Airi looked at him incredulously. "Of course. What else would she be?"

"A king, obviously."

Airi actually burst out laughing at this. "A-a king? Ha! What, you think we'd put a man in charge? Are you crazy?"

Church frowned. "Hold on, what the hell does that mean?"

Airi subdued her fit of laughter to continue. "Well, no offense to you, but most men are either incompetent idiots or lecherous assholes. That's why we only have female leaders."

Church made a dejected face and looked at Airi with false misery. "Is that what you think of me?"

Airi blushed, finding Church's faked pouting to be rather cute. "W-well... I didn't mean it like that. You're... just a perverted dork, so somewhere in-between alright?"

Church smiled, feigning happiness in her response. "Okay then! So tell me, how is the Queen elected?"

Airi sighed. This was going to take a long time to explain.

"Well you see, every four years, we have this tournament..."

* * *

><p>Nanael and Hachiel watched the man they had so carefully tracked from afar as he walked alongside the Swamp Witch's most loyal servant: the two of them seemingly enjoying themselves like ordinary people.<p>

Hachiel rubbed the side of her face. "It's so strange... when I sifted through his memories, he obviously knew nothing about the Swamp Witch nor her servants' true identities. And yet other parts of his memory were shielded by something, and I couldn't read them. What do you think, Nanael?"

"Hm... I think he's really cute."

Hachiel face-palmed.

"What? If you're gonna make a harem, might as well start with the good-looking guys, right?"

Hachiel mentally hoped that making the actual report to the Seraph could be handled solely by her. Nanael had no chance if she had to fend herself.

"You know what Nanael? Never mind. I'll figure this out myself, and you can work on your plans for world domination. Sound good?"

"Sounds awesome! So hop to it Hachi, stop slacking off!"

Hachiel silently praised God that she was a very peaceful and passive individual, or Nanael would have had more than a wing to worry about.

* * *

><p><strong>Mostly dialogue changes throughout this chapter.<br>**


	17. Pavor Nocturnus

**This chapter has now been updated to reflect my new abilities as compared to a few years ago. Have fun with it.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>June 17, 2010<strong>

**Baghdad, Iraq, 13:27 Hours  
><strong>

**Operation Fire's Reign**

* * *

><p>This whole operation had already gone to hell, and it was only twenty minutes underway.<p>

"Sky-hawk to Fire-team Zulu, multiple hostiles are approaching from Sector A-9: estimated thirty or so, and they've got civilians with them, over."

Zulu Lead cursed. "Again? Such cowards... using civilians for human shields..."

He made a hand signal that ordered the rest of Fireteam Zulu to gather around him and his cover, a destroyed pickup truck at the corner of a decrepit store front.

He turned to face the other three members of the Fire-team. "Alright Zulu, we've got another wave coming in from the northeast, and just like the last guys they're using civilians for cover. No blind firing. Don't take a shot unless you know you won't miss. There's no need to tell the Rookie that of course, but the rest of you pay the fuck attention to where you're shooting."

Zulu's newest member, by consensus called the Rookie, nodded. His sharpshooting skills were beyond proficient, so there was no need to worry about collateral damage when he fired. The rest of his fully-armed, completely helmeted team however, did not have such accuracy.

Zulu Lead motioned towards the opposite side of the street. "Ramirez, you've got the SAW, so you and Jenkins move to that corner over there and set up. If the civilians scatter, you know what to do."

The two Legion soldiers, indistinguishable from one another without their names printed onto their helmets, both nodded silently and proceeded to comply with their orders.

Zulu Lead then motioned to Rookie. "Find a way on top of this roof, if there's any of it left, and do your thing. Focus on hostiles with RPG's first. Prioritize from there."

The sharpshooter nodded. "Yes, sir."

Rookie then turned to hop through one of the many shattered windows of the building he had been ordered to ascend. It was only one floor off of the ground, but it still offered a better vantage point than the ground level. A quick examination of his surroundings showed that the roof of the building had collapsed in the center. Fortunately, the crumbled stone made an improvised staircase that would lead Rookie to what was left of the rooftop.

He scaled it quickly, his muscular legs and firm joints easily carrying his body over the jagged debris. After finding a good spot from where he would be able to see the approaching hostiles, he withdrew his collapsible urban sniper rifle and placed a few extra clips near his makeshift nest.

He was just in the nick of time too. As Rookie finished setting up, the aforementioned hostiles from Sector A-9 turned the corner on the street ahead. It was mostly radical Al Qaeda, but in their midst was a smattering of women and children. The man in front, completely covered in his native dress, had a teenage girl held up against him, with a small pistol pointed at her head. This was a bad sign: it meant that he knew the Legion fireteam was already there.

The ringleader of the group stopped his gang of extremists and withdrew a megaphone from a pack on his back. Using it, he shouted at the hidden Legion soldiers in Arabic. After a short burst of foreign words, and a few seconds of translation time, Rookie's helmet translated what was said into English.

"Attention infidels! We know you are hiding here! You cannot shoot us! Come out and face us!"

Rookie placed the triangular reticule of his rifle on the turban-wrapped head of the target, careful to not let the megaphone he held get in the way of his line of fire. After acquiring a bead, Rookie held his fire until the order came from Zulu Lead. There were four LED lights in the bottom of his HUD, each one representing a different squad member's status. If the light for Zulu Lead turned green, then Rookie knew that he was clear to fire. Yellow meant proceed with caution, and red meant cancel previous order. Currently, the Zulu Lead light was yellow: Rookie was not to kill anyone yet.

In the silence provided by the disciplined Legion soldiers, the enemy leader continued his rant. Rookie's helmet translated all of the speech as quickly as possible, and each sentence was interpreted a few seconds after it was spoken.

"You do not have the strength to sacrifice! You are not willing to kill us because you are afraid! You are cowardly dogs, running from us because your hearts are weak! We, the chosen, will purge you with holy fire, and-!"

Zulu Lead's light turned green at this point, as clearly this man had nothing important to say. Rookie was all too happy to comply, and the enemy leader's rant was abruptly cut short by a .30 round going through his eye and out the other end of his skull. The result was a toppling body and a splurge of blood that splattered his nearby comrades and the hostages around him. The woman he had been holding hostage screamed, the shock of someone so close to her being slain brand new in her mind.

The other hostiles did either one of two things: panicked and froze as they had watched their leader die before their eyes, or scattered to find cover. Rookie targeted the smarter ones first, as his less accurate comrades could easily dispatch the static targets.

Careful to avoid the civilians, Rookie dropped one enemy after another. After expending his five-round clip, he reloaded and scanned for more targets. Unfortunately, the break in his attack had given the remaining hostiles ample time to hide themselves from his onslaught. Rookie took a brief moment to add up some numbers in his head. Five more human lives had just been added to his kill-count, leaving him at seventy-three. Such a realization would have been sickening to a normal person... but Rookie found it immensely satisfying. He held no remorse for the deaths of terrorists and evil men, whether their blood was on his hands or not.

Rookie eyed the rest of the battlefield, acknowledging the breathless bodies of the enemies that had been too shocked to move, gunned down by his comrades. The unharmed civilians had scattered in all directions, screaming at the top of their lungs, adding to the cacophonous din of the war-torn city.

The morning had passed in a manner very similar to this. This was actually the fourth such engagement in which Fireteam Zulu had been forced to avoid civilian targets. Those accursed terrorists cared little about their own people if it meant they could harm their enemies. Must've been a Jihad thing.

Rookie's thoughts were interrupted by a large blip on his HUD's radar. Some sort of aircraft was inbound, but it didn't have a friend or foe tag. It would be over his team's heads in less than a minute. Before he could comment on it, Zulu Lead spoke up. "We've got an unidentified aircraft coming in team. Let's take cover, just in case. It's unlikely that it's hostile, but you never know."

Zulu began to move, but as they did so, the surviving enemies in the buildings ahead began to fire at them. Caught off-guard, the team was forced to get back into their cover to avoid the small arms fire. Unfortunately, this left them exposed to the sky, which Rookie realized was a lot worse than it seemed when the aircraft came into view.

Whatever it was was _not _friendly, as Rookie had never seen a Legion or U.S. chopper that looked like that. It was a hulking metal thing that resembled an Osprey, but it had four separate propellers instead of two and a slanted triangular cockpit. It's underbelly brimmed with rocket tubes and two .50 caliber turrets.

Who this machine belonged to was unknown: there was no way Al Qaeda had access to something so advanced. but whoever owned the thing, it was about to fire, and that was bit more pressing at the moment.

"Zulu, that is not friendly! Get the fuck down, take cover!"

All four members of fireteam Zulu scrambled to find cover to hide them from the unidentified aircraft. Rookie had just finished grabbing his gear when the chopper turned towards him. Staring impending death in the face, he knew that his only option was to leap off the building and hope for the best. He turned and jumped over the edge of the gutted structure, just as a HE rocket blasted what was left of it to smithereens and flung Rookie across the street and into an abandoned car's windshield. He slammed into it with a resounding crack, but his body armor prevented any more damage than some minor bruising.

Rookie heard the sputter of mini-gun fire, and scrambled to get behind the car he had landed on, but he soon realized the bullets were not directed at him, but at his teammates. Rook would've helped them, but the lingering dust from the crumbled market building veiled his vision, and consequently, his aim. Fortunately, there was a taller, two or three story building nearby, and Rookie figured that if he could get there, he could acquire a better vantage point and perhaps distract or damage the enemy chopper.

The Legion sniper dashed across the street, carried quickly by his trained and fit body. Upon reaching the door to the building he wished to enter, Rookie found it to be locked. Taking a step back, he launched his right foot into the center of the door, and its crumbling hinges failed to resist his strength. The door flew a foot or two into the room, leaving the dark interior open for examination. Spurred on by the urgency of the situation, Rookie wasted hardly a second in checking the room for possible hostiles, and dashed inside.

He stopped in the middle of the room as he looked for a way up to the next floor, but couldn't immediately identify one. In his concentration, he didn't notice the light patter of feet behind him until the canteen at his belt was being tugged on. Startled, Rookie turned to face what could have been a potential threat, only to be met with the face of a small, native child. She had dark brown eyes and equally dark hair, and was pointing at something in the corner of the room. Rookie would have placed her age at six or seven, considering that she only came up to his waist.

Not knowing what to do, Rookie remained silent and merely stared at the little girl, his eyes hidden from hers behind his visor. Noting his lack of reaction, the girl tugged on his canteen again and pointed at the corner of the room once more, with much more gusto than last time.

"Baba! Baba!"

Rook easily recognized the Arabic word, and since he did know a little bit, there was no need for a translator. "Daddy? What are you-shit."

He quickly pieced together the girl's desperate words and her exaggerated hand motions. Fearing the worst, Rookie looked over to the corner the child indicated and saw the prone body of a man. Rushing over to him, Rookie knelt down and examined the body, checking for signs of life. However, the man's bullet-riddled torso made his fate clear.

Unable to find a pulse in the man's wrist or neck, Rookie stood and looked at the girl with sympathy. He remembered the pain of losing a parent all too well. As the child knelt beside her deceased father and whimpered, Rookie keyed his radio. "Zulu Lead, what's your status, over?"

After a few moments of static, Zulu Lead replied, "We're all OK. Jenkins hit that weird-ass chopper with his grenade launcher and it pulled out. Where are you Rookie? Over."

"I'm in a two-story building just down the street. More importantly, I have a civilian child down here: she's alone, and I don' think she's safe here. Over."

There was a brief moment of silence over the radio channel. "...Alright, the rest of the team is still pinned down at the corner up here, so we can't get to you: try to get the civilian to the forward base, or somewhere that's at least a little safer than here. Over."

Rookie looked down to the girl that was staring with her father at sullen eyes. It didn't seem like she fully grasped the reality of the situation. Sighing, the Legion soldier moved towards the girl and prepared to grab her.

"Roger that, Zulu Lead. Be careful out there, over."

Finished conversing with Zulu Lead, Rookie knelt down and grabbed the young girl under her arms, and hoisted her up to tuck her against his chest, so that he could shield her if they were shot at by insurgents. The girl kicked and screamed, unwilling to leave her father, but her struggle against the soldier was futile. Rookie ignored her agonized cries of, "Baba!" as he took her out of the building he had entered but a few minutes ago. Knowing that there was no way this girl would stay quiet, Rookie immediately disposed of the idea of sneaking back to the forward base.

Anticipating trouble along the way, Rookie cradled the girl in one arm and held his Mk5 SMG in the other. Despite his astounding marksmanship, even he could not wield a sniper rifle with one hand, so he had slung his primary weapon over his back. Still ignoring the little girl's whimpering pleas for her daddy, Rookie began to jog eastward, making use of the alleys between the narrow buildings so that he could stay off of the streets. He was alert to all of his surroundings, lest he get caught off guard by an ambush or another insurgent patrol, and endangering this child's life.

Every time Rookie had to cross a seemingly abandoned street, he would treat it like crossing a road back home. He peeked his head from out of the alleyway, weapon raised and ready, and would look both ways before crossing into another alley across from his own. The few times he did notice any hostiles, he stayed hidden and waited until they were gone. During those times, Rookie would have to clamp his precious cargo's mouth shut, so that she would not unwittingly give his position away.

This little game of sprinting across open streets and squeezing through tight alleys lasted for nearly two hours, but after having finally avoided any direct confrontation and making it to the outskirts of Baghdad, Rookie finally came within view of the U.S. military forward base: which also secretly housed a few Legion teams that were testing their fangs out in the field. However, despite being within his visual radius, the base was still about a half a mile down the street. Although this was still a bit of distance to cover, especially in this dangerous environment, it was a straight run, and Rookie doubted that there would be any hostiles this close to the heavily fortified base.

Rookie began jogging towards the haven, winding between abandoned cars and occasional debris from bombed out buildings around him. He briefly wondered if the rest of Zulu team had completed their mission, but he assuaged his own doubts by reminding himself of the elite status of all Legion teams. The girl he cradled in his arm had fallen silent quite some time ago, and although he was unsure, Rookie believed she might be sleeping.

About four hundred feet into his half mile jog, Rookie came to a long stretch of the street that offered little to no cover: all of the buildings were so close together that the alleys between them were too narrow for a human to hide in, and the street itself had only a small car or two along it, which was paltry defense against explosives and such. This was a kill-box. And under normal circumstances, Rookie would have never gone in there. But for the moment, the area seemed secure, and he was eager to get his burden to safety.

Continuing down the path, Rookie realized his folly when he heard the whir of rotary blades, which unfortunately did not bear the easily recognizable thumping of Black Hawk choppers. He turned to identify the source of the noise, and when he did, his heart filled with dread. Hovering over the street was the same quadruple propeller, Osprey-like chopper that had hounded his team earlier, with the only difference from before being some smoke billowing out of the rear section.

Rookie quickly analyzed and evaluated his options in his head, and unfortunately the lack of cover meant only one was available: run, and run fast. Rookie bolted away from the chopper and towards the base as fast as he could, hoping to bring the enemy within the effective range of its anti-air batteries. He was followed by hundreds of bullets burying themselves into the sand as the enemy chopper tried to gun him down. Miraculously, the majority of the volley either missed or glanced off of his armor, but the few direct hits made huge dents in his suit and caused Rookie to stumble forward when they hit him. Fortunately, the back and chest of the suit were the most well-armored, so none of the bullets penetrated. What Rookie was really worried about was his legs: the armor wasn't as thick there, since mobility had to be maintained in an infantry unit. That mini-gun would tear through his legs like a knife through wet paper.

Rookie continued to run, not bothering to move in an erratic path to throw off the enemy's aim, since he knew that was pointless and would only slow his speed, and subconsciously noted that the girl he carried had been awakened. Ignoring her terrified screams, Rookie tucked her head into his shoulder to protect her, and scrunched up her body to minimize her chances of being hit.

The soldier continued to sprint down the street, aiming for the end of the kill-box so that he could get some cover. Of course, he knew that his chances of survival in this situation were slim. He was being gunned down by an advanced chopper while his mobility was hindered by the weight of a civilian, and he had nowhere to hide. Another burst of machine-gun fire helped reinforce his assurance in imminent death as the volley either impacted the ground around him or ricocheted off his thick body armor. Again, none of the bullets managed to incapacitate him, and Rookie briefly wondered if he was being protected by some higher power.

A few yards later, he realized that such a thought was ridiculous. He heard a _whump _from behind and turned just in time to see a rocket accelerating towards him. He had only a split-second to try and sidestep away from it, but he knew it would be to no avail. His last thought was to throw the girl out of harm's way, but by the time it crossed his mind, it was already too late. A fiery explosion followed the impact of the missile near his feet, and it sent him careening through the air until he smacked against the side of a building.

Rookie coughed and sputtered as he choked on the blood coming out of his mouth, and he spattered the inside of his helmet with the crimson liquid as he tried to rise to his feet. His body simply lacked the strength to do so, and his eyes focused on the emergency medical diagnostic that was scrolling down his visor. A mechanical voice read out his injuries, just in case he was unable to see the diagnostic.

"Major fractures detected. Minor lacerations detected. ACL tear detected."

As the list of injuries was told off, a small hologram of his body came up to show the exact location of his injuries. The hologram was blue, but flashed red in places that were critically injured. Large sections of his back were riddled with fractures, and his right knee tendon was torn in two. Normally, he would be feeling incredible amounts of pain right now, but his suit had automatically administered morphine to dull the pain. To counteract the negative effects of the painkiller, several other fluids were also administered.

Temporarily numb to the pain wracking his body, Rookie rolled over onto his belly and looked around for his weapons, which had both been separated from him in the explosion. He spotted his rifle lying a few yards away, and began painstakingly crawling towards it. He was aware that the hostile chopper was watching him, but apparently it did not consider him a threat at the moment, and instead turned its attention to the U.S. Humvees approaching from the direction of the base. The two forces began exchanging fire as they came within firing range of each other, leaving Rookie to flounder in the dirt as he crawled towards his weapon.

As he finally reached it, and lay his hand on the stock, his eyes were drawn to something else lying in the dirt as well; the crumpled, broken, and bloody body of the little girl he had tried to protect. She didn't move, squirm, or utter a single whimper or cry of despair... Rookie knew with absolute certainty that the girl was dead. Because he had failed. He hadn't been fast enough. He hadn't been strong enough. Because he had failed, the life of an innocent little girl had been wrongfully taken from this world.

This realization made the soldier want to cry, but the sheer exhaustion he was suffering from made it impossible. He merely rolled onto his back, oblivious to the conflict around him, and succumbed to his agony, slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Church rose from his resting place on the ground, tears streaming from his face as he realized he was not in the past. No, he was camped with Airi and Melona under a large tree, and both of them were sleeping restfully as Church struggled to conquer a demon from his memory that he thought had been defeated a long time ago.<p>

Wiping away the last of his tears, Church stared up at the starry sky, mostly obscured by leaves. A lot had happened that day. Not only had he been permanently injured, and failed in his duty as a soldier, but he had also set up a new resolution: to become the best of the best, the ultimate soldier, so that no one would ever die because of him again. He had failed in that too, when Blitz and Cerberus had been relying on him to save them...

Church knew that if he dwelt on those memories, he would never get to sleep. But there was nothing to distract him from them. Until a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, and Church turned to face one of his two companions, although he couldn't tell who in the darkness of night.

"Um...Airi?"

"Nope."

Church blanched as he recognized Melona's voice. He really hoped she wasn't still angry over that little altercation a few days ago.

"Melona, I..."

The girl cut him off. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Church. Unless you make me angry again."

Church couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "Look Melona...I'm sorry about getting angry with you. I know the situation wasn't your fault. And I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

He couldn't quite tell in the dark, but it looked like Melona just shrugged. "It's no big deal. I got a little too bitchy about it, I'll admit, especially when I left you on the road. Besides that... I think I was pretty justified. Besides-"

"Will you two either shut up or make up so that I can sleep?"

Both Church and Melona turned to face Airi as she turned over on the soft, grassy ground. Melona stuck her tongue out at her, despite the fact that the girl would never see it. "Yes, overseer."

She turned back towards Church once she was finished with her sarcastic comment and whispered to him. "So, can't sleep?"

"Er...no?"

The pink girl moved her face close enough to him that he could discern the sly grin on her face. "Oh really? I think I can help with that."

"You are not knocking me out."

Melona sighed. "That's not what I meant. You can't sleep because you're thinking about something distasteful right? So I'll just distract you."

"Uh... distract me?"

Melona pushed Church to the ground and wrapped her arms around him, shoving certain lecherous assets into his face. "Sure! I'll just sleep over here tonight and keep you company. Kinda hard not to focus on me, right?"

Church tried to push her at least a few inches away from him, trying to get away from her suffocating breasts. "As ridiculous as that sounds... you're probably right."

And so she was, though Church now had something else in his pants keeping him awake in place of bad memories. Unbeknownst to either of them, Airi was terribly flustered and jealous as she watched her two friends snuggle their way through the night.

* * *

><p><strong>Few changes were made, it was mostly just little dialogue things.<br>**


	18. Tricks of the Trade

**This chapter has now been updated, for better or worse.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"We have to get past <em>that?"<em>

Church lay on his belly alongside Airi and Melona, and from their perch on top of one of the many grassy hills in this region, they observed the massive stone wall that separated the Queen's lands from Vance territory. Although quite a bit smaller, it reminded Church of the Great Wall of China.

A steady stream of people, wagons, and horses were flowing both in and out of the gates, and each and every one of them was being thoroughly investigated by the guards. It looked like they were searching for something in particular, but from this distance, Church couldn't be sure.

"The guards seem to be searching for something. Any idea what it is?"

Melona humphed. "They're probably still looking for their stray princess, hoping that she'll come crawling back to them one of these days."

"Why? What happened to her?"

Melona shrugged. "Pfft, she ran off with some ape-looking bandit, looking for adventure or the meaning of life or some stupid stuff like that."

Airi cut into the short conversation. "And what Melona won't tell you is how that same girl has beaten her on multiple occasions."

"Yeah well, she handed your ass to you too, at that stupid forest!"

The two girls were at each other's throats in an instant. "Well with me, it was two against one, so I actually have an excuse!"

Melona retorted with a similar statement. "Well there were two of them with me the first time too!"

"But at that time, Leina was totally inexperienced and the only one you had to deal with was the bandit girl! And the second time, you were almost fifty times her strength, and you still lost!"

Before the two of them could continue their heated spat, Church pushed them away from each other. "Why don't you both just agree that this Leina person has your mutual hatred?"

The two women glared at each other for a moment, but eventually agreed with Church's assessment.

Seeing that the dispute had been calmed, Church proceeded to investigate this area by asking questions to his companions. "So, considering this is a border between two hostile lands, what's the situation like?"

Melona, caring very little for politics, turned the answer over to Airi.

"Well, the surrounding area has been under dispute between the Queen and Count Vance for over six years. When the current Queen's rule began eight years ago, she pretty much started a new period of peace and prosperity across her entire domain. For two years, this area, and all of its villages and towns, remained under the Queen's control, and Count Vance stayed on his side of the wall, since his forces weren't nearly strong enough to face the Queen's. In year three though, there was a brief war between the Continent and the North Realm. The Queen had to recall a lot of reserve troops from border areas to fight the barbarians, including most of her soldiers from this area. Vance seized his chance and conquered the sparsely defended region. After the war, the Queen decided that the amount of troops required to retake the area would result in unacceptable casualties. So while the area is still officially part of the Queen's domain, it's physically under Vance rule. That's why so many people from this region are going into Vance territory, in order to pay their bi-annual homage to the Count."

Church was impressed. "Wow, you sure know a lot about this kind of thing, don't you?"

Normally, Airi would've appreciated the compliment, but the only reason she knew so much about this was because the Swamp Witch's ultimate goal was for Airi to kill Queen Aldra, so the wraith had done a lot of research about anything that pertained to the young ruler. Because of that, the compliment lost its appeal.

"Yeah... thanks, I guess."

Church frowned, noticing Airi's lack of positive reaction, and instead built off of the conversation with something else. "You said the current Queen started a new period of prosperity. How so? What were things like before her?"

This time Melona answered him. "Seriously Church, how long have you lived under a rock? Even I know about that. In order for that squirt Aldra to get the throne,she had to beat the Queen before her, Veronica. In short, she was a total bitch. But explaining all of the ways she screwed over the country would take a a while, so we'll have to do it another time."

Airi rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, you'd get a better explanation from one of the peasants in the streets than her. You'd have a better chance of asking the Queen herself than actually learning anything useful from Melona."

Melona glared at the redhead. "Hey Church, remember when I said the old Queen was a total bitch? If you wanna get a good idea of what I meant, just compare her to Airi. Really, the resemblance is uncanny."

Before the two girls could strangle each other, Church placed himself in-between them. "Geez you guys, you two have been fighting a lot today. Is something wrong?"

Both Melona and Airi crossed their arms. Almost simultaneously, they both said, "It's your fault, you idiot."

"What?! How is it my fault?!"

Both of the girls glared at him, but only Airi answered. "The fact that you don't even know what it is makes it worse. You're such a jerk."

Church turned to Melona, but she just turned her head away from him. Accepting his defeat, Church returned his gaze to the Vance territory wall and inwardly sighed. _Ugh. Women..._

* * *

><p>"I don't understand why I have to be tied up <em>and <em>blindfolded."

Melona just giggled as she tied the last knot of the blindfold around Church's eyes. "It's all part of the plan to get past the wall, Church! You just have to deal with it!"

Church frowned, now unable to see anything through the black ribbon Airi had removed from her outfit for this purpose. With no small amount of effort, Church avoided thinking about the sizable bust it had been wrapped around previously.

"So why do we need to go into Vance territory anyway?"

Airi, her arms wrapped around her somewhat exposed breasts despite the fact that Church couldn't see her, answered. "Remember those things we aren't allowed to tell you?"

Church grumbled under his breath. "There are getting to be too many of those..."

Melona, close enough to hear him, patted Church on the back. "Aw, c'mon Church! Airi and I can get through the gate easily, but you have to be disguised as a prisoner, so just deal with it!"

Church cocked an eyebrow under his blindfold. "And just how can you two pass through easily? I doubt you're in good standing with the Count or anything."

Melona snorted. "Well, nobody said we were getting in _legally. _Just trust us Church. Now stand here for a minute while Airi and I finish up the details."

Melona left Church standing there, hands bound and eyes blinded, and went over to Airi and began whispering with her. "OK, so you can just disappear, and I'll disguise myself as Leina!"

Airi gave her friend a look of dissatisfaction. "You idiot, if you pretend to be Leina, they'll give you a whole legion to escort you to the Count. We don't want that! Plus, why would Leina have a prisoner? Use your brain, if the mushy skull of yours actually has one!"

Melona scowled. "Just because I cuddled with your boyfriend last night doesn't mean you have to be such a bitch, Airi."

Airi's face reddened to a near tomato-like shade. "H-he's not- I mean we're not- S-shut up! We'll never be like that!"

Melona grinned slyly. "Oh, but you want to be, right?"

Airi cast her emerald gaze towards the ground. "Even if I wanted to, it's not possible. Master would never allow something like that..."

Seeing that she had hit a sensitive area, Melona diverted the conversation. "Well, who should I transform into then? We need someone who the guards won't bother checking."

Airi, distracted from her dreary thoughts, rolled her eyes. "That blonde bimbo has two other sisters, doesn't she? Just pick one: I doubt the guards would try to keep either one of them out, considering their positions."

"But it has to be logical right? Isn't one of those two out in the Queen's lands looking for Leina? It wouldn't make sense that she would come back with some no-name prisoner."

Airi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "True... I think it's the younger one who is absent right now, so that would mean that the elder sister is the one still around."

Melona gave a frown of disapproval. "Bah, I hate that bitch. I don't want to pretend to be her!"

"Don't you hate all of them?"

"Yeah. But after Leina, the General is second in line."

The two girls were interrupted by the irritated quip from Church. "If you two are done discussing your secret plans for world domination, I'm still over here, eagerly awaiting to hear it."

Neither of the two granted Church a response, and instead proceeded to whack their companion in the back of the head, as punishment for his witty remark that went completely unappreciated.

* * *

><p>"Come on, Sis! This is so unfair!"<p>

Claudette pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated with her lack of progress in convincing Elina that this change of plans was for the best.

"Elina please: I am not the one who made this decision. If you have a problem with this, you'll have to take it up with the Count."

The Thundercloud General's adopted little sister scraped her claw gauntlet along the wooden table between the two of them. Claudette inwardly cried at the damage to the valuable piece of furniture.

"Who does Daddy think he is, telling me that I've done an inadequate job in finding Leina? If he hadn't called me back, I could've found her by now!"

Claudette shook her head, causing her long scarlet hair to wave back and forth. "It has been several months, Elina, and you were supposed to bring Leina back a long time ago. Maybe you just need a break. You can stay here and relax, while I go out and search-"

"How am I supposed to relax when Big Sis is out there traipsing about with some stupid gorilla woman?! Do you expect me to just sit around here and do nothing?!"

Claudette was about to muster some sort of response to her sister's outburst, when Florelle peeked her head inside the door to the conference room. "Erm... General? Your lieutenant told me to let you know that they're ready to depart when you are."

Claudette nodded at the girl, and rose from her chair. "Very well. Thank you, Florelle." As the aspiring squire excused herself, Claudette faced her simmering little sister.

"Elina, I'm trusting you to obey the Count. Please don't do anything rash that will anger him. I promise that I'll have Leina back here in a matter of weeks. Trust me."

Elina didn't look convinced, but nodded in understanding anyway. Claudette couldn't help but wonder if Elina would really stay put, but she had no choice but to trust her. Still, Claudette knew that the young woman would definitely not spend her time at home relaxing, and that it would only be a matter of time before she had to release all of her pent-up frustration. Claudette just hoped that she would do it outside of the castle, sparing the poor furniture within.

* * *

><p>Airi hovered above the Vance wall gate, invisible to all of the common people below her. From this height, she watched Melona, disguised as General Claudette, as she walked forward with Church tied to a rope behind her. As all of the commoners noticed the supposed General, they stepped to either side of her, giving Melona and Church a straight path to the gate. The two Vance guards were oblivious to the approaching imposter until she was standing right before them.<p>

The senior-ranked guard, a bearded and mustached Lance Corporal, didn't even look up as he waved past the previous travelers. He was completely oblivious to the fact that the 'Thundercloud General' was standing before him.

"Papers?"

Melona said nothing, trying to capture the stoic personality of the woman she was impersonating. As the guard noticed that an answer was not forthcoming, he finally raised his eyes from the spear shaft he was whittling and looked at the current tax-payer from the Queen's lands.

"I said pa-G-General!? Forgive me ma'am, I had no idea who I was talking to!"

Melona was careful not to let the soldier see her eyes, since they would have given her away. This ruse was completely reliant on her ability to make these two troopers believe she was who she was pretending to be.

"I'll let it pass this time, soldier. Open the gate and let me through."

The other soldier, clearly a new recruit, scampered to the winch that controlled the gate, but before he could open it, his superior stopped him.

"Hold on, Myles." He turned back to Melona. "I'm sorry, General, but we still need to examine your prisoner, he could be-"

Melona thought that a glare would serve her well here, but that would have made her cross-shaped pupils all to obvious, so she had to settle for a threatening tone. "Are you suggesting that I am untrustworthy?"

The Lance Corporal blanched. "O-of course not! I would never suggest such slander against you, General! Please, go right on through!"

The senior soldier motioned at his subordinate to open the gate, and Private Myles furiously cranked the gate winch in order to open it as quickly as possible. Melona, Church still blindfolded behind her, proceeded to walk through the portal at a calm pace, despite her eagerness to get through it.

Once on the other side, and once the gate had closed behind them, Melona quickly guided Church into a nearby alley. As soon as they were out of view of any possible observers, Airi rematerialized next to her comrades and Melona returned to her normal form. The two gave each other a small high five.

"Wow, Melona, you actually managed that without messing up. I'm impressed."

Before Melona could make a retort, Church spoke up. "Yeah yeah, you were fantastic. Can one of you untie me now?"

Both girls turned to him simultaneously. "No."

Airi smirked. "In fact, if we gag you too, you'll finally be the perfect traveling companion."

Church grinned. "Well, if you're content to let me keep your ribbon and show off your boobs to the world, that's fine by me."

It took Airi less than half a second to snatch her black ribbon from around Church's eyes, and she glared at him menacingly as she tied it back in its proper place.

"If you ever comment on something like that again, what that elf woman did to you will be a blissful fantasy compared to your suffering."

Church shrugged and held up his still bound wrists. "Well, it's hard not to comment on such supple-"

"I. Will. Devour. Your. Soul. Got it?"

Although she said that, Airi was inwardly conflicted. While Church was making a perverted comment, he was also making a compliment on her breasts... could that be considered a good thing? As she realized she was close to accepting what Church had said, Airi violently shook her head from side to side, as if to dislodge the thought of accepting such a lewd compliment.

Church held up his bound hands again. "Seriously, is someone going to untie me?"

Neither Airi nor Melona answered him, but both walked out of the alley and down the road ahead, leaving Church to stumble behind them, pleading for release from his bonds.

* * *

><p>"Aw... Captain, I'm hungry..."<p>

Alleyne eyed her student, who was trudging along wearily beside her as they traversed the outskirts of Syrinidell's farthest reaches. "Well Nowa, if you would stop refusing to eat fish, you wouldn't be so hungry. We've caught plenty."

"Captain, I can't eat fish! They're forest animals too! What kind of monster would I be if I betrayed my friends?!"

Alleyne rolled her eyes, but she inwardly thought that Nowa's antics were humorous. "So am I a monster for eating fish?"

Nowa's golden eyes widened as she realized that she had inadvertently called her teacher a monster. "No, no no no! Of course not, Captain!"

Alleyne smiled. "Well someone has to be the fish-eating monster. Why not Echidna?"

From behind the master and apprentice, Echidna's voice raised an objection to that suggestion. "Why me? I don't even like fish that much."

Alleyne turned to face the Calibara elf, who carried an unconscious Lucas slung over her shoulder. "I suppose you're right, Echidna. After all, your primary intake is alcohol and the happiness of others..."

Echidna scowled, and the dour expression made Nowa giggle. "Y'know Captain, you've been making a lot of jokes lately. I think Church might have rubbed off on you a little bit."

It was meant to be a lighthearted comment, but it made the Combat Master's mood turn sullen. She had a brief flare of annoyance at Nowa for bringing up a touchy subject for her, but Alleyne quelled it quickly. She was growing kind of worried about all of these rampant emotions that she had been having lately. Perhaps the stress of the last week or so had worn on her more than she knew.

Alleyne tried her hardest to distract her mind from thinking about Church, but for some reason, everything she thought of reminded her of him in some way or another. It was an unsettling feeling, and Alleyne didn't know how to deal with it.

Nowa noticed that she had hit a sore spot, and tried to remedy the moment. "It's Ok Captain... I miss him too. I miss him a lot: just thinking about losing him makes me feel like I want to cry, but... I don't think he would want us to act that way. I think he'd be disappointed, if he knew we were letting this bother us so much. Besides, you said Church told you that he would see us again, and I believe him. I think you should too."

The truth in her student's words made Alleyne feel much better. She had always been aware of Nowa's ability to cheer up those around her, but Alleyne had never been the target of the young half-elf's encouraging words. In fact, it was usually Alleyne who was trying to cheer up Nowa, so this reversed situation was pretty new to the thousand year-old warrior.

Nowa turned to face Echidna. "You miss him too, don't you Miss Echidna?"

Trying to sound as indifferent as possible, Echidna replied with, "What, that twerp? No way, he had far too many good qualities to be my kind of guy."

Although Echidna had said that, both Alleyne and Nowa could see the amused smile on her face: few people were fascinating enough to pique that woman's interest, and Church had managed to do just that. Whether or nor she was angry over her defeat earlier, she at least liked the man.

"Oh, Miss Echidna, what happened to your snake?"

Alleyne dropped her gaze down to where Keltan usually resided on Echidna's body, and as Nowa had just pointed out, it was indeed missing. "H-have you no shame!? Could you at least wear something else besides that animal?!"

Echidna shrugged. "Well, Keltan has to stretch every once in awhile, y'know. Imagine how cramped he must get being wrapped around my-"

"Don't say anything else. I'd prefer not to dwell on such things."

Alleyne's old friend smirked. "Right, you wouldn't want Church to know you were thinking such lewd thoughts, eh?"

"That has nothing to do with it. Any woman with a modicum of decency would react the same way. Clearly you are not one of said women."

Nowa watched as her two peers verbally battled with one another. Under normal circumstances, she would have been amused. But with the stress of this whole situation, as well as her rumbling stomach, the humor of the moment was lost. Only the boy on Echidna's back was oblivious to the group's problems.

* * *

><p><strong>Updates here mostly included dialogue changes, and nothing else.<strong>


	19. Inner Conflict

**This chapter has now been re-written, though changes were minor.**

* * *

><p>"You know, now that I think about it, how exactly did we get past that gate?"<p>

Airi sat perched on a tree branch above Church, who sat against said tree, her legs dangling near his head. "You know that's something I can't tell you, Church."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?"

The redhead looked down at Church irritably. "Please don't start Church. We already talked about this."

Church said nothing in reply, opting to roll his eyes rather than make a smart comment. He instead cast his gaze out to the castle in the center of a lake in the distance. It was a formidable structure, with several towers, thick stone walls, and a long bridge that connected it to the land across the water. According to Airi, this fortress belonged to none other than the ruler of this region, Count Vance. Although the castle did seem auspicious, in a sense, Church was almost positive that he had seen better.

Quickly growing bored with his examination of their target, easily accomplished from the grassy knoll he and Airi rested on, Church turned his thoughts towards Melona, who had left to scout out the castle several hours ago. Church was aware that such recon meant infiltration would be the next step, but he had no idea why Airi and Melona wanted to do such a thing, since they had not deigned it necessary to tell him. Church tried to suppress his bitterness at being left out of his friends' secrets, but the soldier found it difficult to do so. He disliked being left out of the loop.

He raised his head to face Airi, who was still sitting on the tree branch above him, lazily twirling her finger around a lock of her scarlet hair. At that moment, she couldn't have been any cuter even if she tried. Knowing that Airi wasn't paying attention to him, Church decided to take this opportunity to thoroughly examine the beautiful maiden above him.

Despite his efforts to the contrary, his eyes were first drawn to her body. Airi's physique was just impossible to ignore, even if one tried their hardest. The word 'perfect' even briefly materialized in his mind, but Church was reluctant to say such a thing. After all, he had found Alleyne to be very beautiful as well. In fact, the women in this realm, as best as Church could describe them, all seemed to be better looking than the ones back home (No offense to his sister, wherever she may be).

With this on his mind, Church couldn't help but wonder if his attraction to both Airi and Alleyne was merely shallow. Did he really only like them because of their looks? Because of their well-toned bodies, pretty faces, and flawless skin? The mere thought of something so superficial sickened him. After all, even those angels, who he had met only briefly, were attractive, yet he hardly knew them. Even Nowa, several years younger than he, was downright adorable in Church's opinion. That hadn't been the only reason he had befriended the girl so easily, had it? Would he have ignored the girl if she hadn't been as cute as she had?

Taking advantage of the pervading silence around him, Church rested his head on his arms and did some soul searching. He wasn't really that shallow, was he? Did he only pretend to be the friend of these women, deceiving both himself and them? Was he actually just looking for some one-time deal with a pretty girl that he would discard when he was finished with her?

He pondered this for several minutes, either feeling worried or disgusted that such a thing may have been true. Could something that petty really be his leading motive...?

"Church? Are you alright?"

Shaken from his self-accosting thoughts, Church looked up at Airi, who was gazing down at him in concern. Church thought that her emerald eyes looked as though they held some amount of affection for the man they were resting on... but he quickly swept aside such thoughts, convinced that they were only a figment of his imagination.

"I'm fine. Do I seem otherwise?"

Airi tilted her head to the side, as if his answer puzzled her. "You look a little...off. Or are you just tired?"

Church looked away from Airi as he answered, pretending to focus his gaze on the castle once more. "Yeah...I'm just tired. That's all."

Church heard Airi hop down from her perch and land beside him, and without thinking, he turned to face her. He was met with a gentle smile and a knowing look from the girl that now sat less than a foot away. Something about seeing her smile in such a way, and at him no less, made Church's heart thump just a little out of rhythm. She was just so beautiful... and her smile was stunning. Never mind those spectacular emerald eyes. The combination was just irresistible. Even a trained sniper like Church couldn't calm his racing heart.

Church was startled out of his trance by the voice of his companion. "You know Church, even if you're a really great liar, your face always gives you away. You always avoid looking at me whenever there's something you don't want to talk about. But you know you can trust me, right? You can tell me anything."

The irony of the situation made Church laugh. "Isn't it odd how just a few days ago, I was saying something something pretty similar to that to you? Irony strikes at the most peculiar of times."

Airi shrugged, her cheerful smile still present on her face. "Yeah, I guess it is. But I won't let you evade the question! C'mon, like I said, you can trust me."

Before Church even knew what he was saying, he ruined their little carefree chat with a caustic comment directed at his conversational partner. "You know Airi, I'm actually not so sure I can. You keep plenty of secrets from me. That doesn't sound all that trustworthy."

Airi's face showed obvious hurt at Church's scathing words and tone. She turned her eyes away as she tried to formulate some sort of reply. "Church... I thought you said you understood. W-why... were you just saying that? Were you just lying about it?"

Church examined the expression and tone of Airi's voice, and even though he had expected both to be angry, they were actually rather sad. Church inwardly berated himself for making such a stupid comment without thinking. "No, of course not. It's just that... I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

Airi kept her eyes away from him as she answered. "Yes you did. You just didn't mean to say it out loud."

The two of them fell into awkward silence, and Church knew that he had ruined a perfectly good chance for a decent conversation with Airi, all in one moment of stupidity and carelessness. The two of them stayed that way for several minutes, and Church slowly sank deeper and deeper into a bog of depressing thoughts and misery, amplified all the more by the knowledge of his blunder in hurting Airi's feelings. As the minutes dragged on, the emotional pressure in his heart increased, until eventually, it built so much that he could no longer contain the burning question that hounded his thoughts.

"Airi, am I...shallow?"

Clearly, Airi had not expected their mutual silence to be broken so soon, and she was unprepared for such a question. "Huh?"

"Do you think I'm shallow?"

The girl across from Church gave him a peculiar glance. "Why would you ask something like that?"

"Just... I just need you to answer it. Please?"

Contrary to what Church had believed was going to happen, Airi's answer was very forthcoming, and she had spent only a second in thinking about the question itself. That was a good sign. "No. Of course not. You're the kindest, most caring man I've ever met. Now, don't get me wrong: you are a perverted dork... but you're not shallow. Why would you even think that?"

Church was thrown off by the maid's response. He had expected her to say something hurtful, because she was still hurt by his words a few minutes ago. "B-but... what makes you think I'm so kind and caring? I haven't done anything to deserve that..."

Airi seemed amused by his self-deprecating attitude. "You haven't? From your perspective, maybe you haven't done much. But from mine, you've done more than anyone else has ever done for me. You obviously remember that depression I was in, right?

Church nodded, saying nothing. Seeing that he had nothing to say, Airi continued.

"First of all, you showed that you cared just by being worried about me. But whenever you asked questions, I evaded them or told you that I didn't want to talk about them. That went on for a few days... most guys would've given up. But you didn't. You actually cared so much about me that you _didn't _care about what I thought I wanted because it was stupid. You persisted, out of concern for my well-being. That much effort isn't something a shallow man would put into making me happy."

Church tried to find a way to counter her argument. "But... what if I'm only-!"

His objection was cut off by a kiss on the cheek, the second one he had gotten so far. "You're a good guy, Church. I fully believe that. So don't ever ask that question again, alright?"

At a loss for words, Church merely nodded and turned his face away from Airi's scrutiny, in an attempt to hide the blush that dominated his face at the moment. Fortunately, he didn't have to hide it for long.

"Yoohoo, I'm back!"

Both Church and Airi looked towards the source of the voice, which was of course Melona, at the foot of the small hill the three companions currently occupied. Eager to separate himself from Airi and hopefully the awkwardness he was experiencing, Church jumped to his feet and went down to meet her, leaving his previous conversational partner behind before she could identify his embarrassment.

"So, what did you find out?"

Melona shrugged. "Oh, you know, a bunch of stuff I can't tell you. Sorry!"

Instantly dispirited by her answer, Church threw his hands up into the air, as the universal sign of _to hell with this,_ and stalked off towards a large tree that stood several yards away from his friends. Melona watched him go, not sure if she thought that his reaction was funny or pitiful. She didn't notice Airi finally come to speak to her when she did.

"So, what _did _you find out, Melona?"

"I found out that Church gets really angry every time we hide something."

Airi sighed. "I can't say I blame him. I'd hate to be kept in the dark all the time too. I thought I had cheered him up at least a little bit, but I guess not..."

Upon hearing that, Melona gave her friend a cocked eyebrow and a suggestive smile. "Cheered him up? That sounds... scandalous."

"Shut up. You might be a Slime, but you have life-force, and all life-force is equally edible."

Melona was aware of this, and unfortunately, it was a very possible threat. Although Airi had never tried her life-absorbing abilities on her and there was actually no guarantee that it was possible, Melona could see no reason why they wouldn't work if she did. Knowing that she was defeated in this little debate, Melona crossed her arms and stuck her nose up in the air.

"Whatever. I already know that secretly, you wanna do those kinds of things with him in the long-run. I mean-"

Her retort was silenced by the purple flames that swirled around the ghost-maid that was her friend. "One...more...word...Melona..."

Finally getting the message, Melona took a few cautionary steps backwards, glad that Church was not paying attention to Airi's display of anger at the moment. "Alright, alright, calm down there. Tell yourself whatever helps you sleep at night. Let's just focus on getting into the castle. First off, and most importantly, General Claudette is absent from the castle, and she just left, so she should be for several weeks."

Airi's tell-tale flames dissipated with the good news. "That's great! That woman was the biggest obstacle we could've been forced to deal with. This should make our job a lot easier. And with our abilities, sneaking in should be easy."

Melona jabbed a thumb back at their third companion. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

Airi face-palmed. "Crap, I forgot about him... he can just stay here, can't he? Our mission shouldn't take us too long anyway."

"You mean _your_ mission? You never even told me what it is, only that we had to get inside the castle to accomplish it. I don't even see why I should have to help."

Airi pointed a finger at the Slime accusingly. "Because you never help, and this mission is really important to Master. If I fail because you weren't there to back me up, we'll both be punished! And remember, Master vowed to use the Squeezer on you next time!"

Melona shivered. Few things made the Protean Assassin do that, but having the Swamp Witch take advantage of her gelatinous properties with such a diabolical machine was one of them.

"Fine, then let's hurry up and get this over with! Stupid Swamp Bitch..."

The insult to their mutual master earned Melona a glare from her fellow servant, but Airi said nothing on the matter and instead returned to the topic of occupying Church for the next few hours.

"Sheesh, it's like having to find a babysitter..."

Airi looked over at the person in question, who was pacing back and forth in front of some sort of tree. Airi thought it was strange, that although Church was so vehemently opposed to being kept in the dark, he respected Airi's wishes enough to allow secrets to be kept from him.

"Really, the nearest town is several miles away, and I don't trust Church to make it there himself. I'm sure he can just stay here until we're done, and then we can come back for him."

Melona looked back at Church as well. "Do you really think he'll stay here and do nothing for several hours? That's so boring."

Airi rolled her eyes. "Church isn't you, Melona. It's not a matter of fun, it's a matter of necessity. He'll stay because I asked him too."

"Pfft, what are you, his mom? I don't think he really views you as a figure of authority, Airi."

Airi ignored her the slime and made her way over to Church to tell him the plan for the day. She already knew that he would be unhappy: it was just a matter of wording it in a way that didn't seem so bad.

* * *

><p>"Do you think this is something we should interfere with?"<p>

Hachiel looked over to her blue-haired friend, who hadn't answered her query. Both of them hovered among the lofty clouds of the sky, where at least one of them was keeping a watchful eye on their targets below.

"Nanael?"

The handicapped angel appeared to be sleeping, which was a peculiar sight since she was in the air. Hachiel sighed.

"Never mind. I don't even know why I would ask you..."

Having decided that Nanael wasn't going to be much help at the moment, Hachiel continued her observation alone. It would seem that the Swamp Witch's servants were leaving their regular companion all by his lonesome. And of course, by regular, Hachiel was referring to his abilities, and not the fact that he had an otherworldly aura and a shielded mind. She had attempted to ascertain the man's thoughts many times since her first try, having come to him in the night when he and his companions slept. However, she was blocked each time by some force that was not his own. Strangely, the force that blocked her attempts seemed... angelic. Whatever forces the barrier was composed of, it was not demonic or of a cursed nature. Indeed, it had the same aura that many angelic powers emanated. This intrigued Hachiel, but for the time being, she had no plausible explanation for the phenomenon, and therefore decided to save it for her report to the Seraph.

A grumbling from her partner distracted Hachiel from her somber thoughts. Hoping that Nanael was finally waking up, Hachiel turned to address her, but as she did so, she discovered that all the napping angel had done was roll over in her sleep.

* * *

><p>Church kicked the rock at his feet, sending it on a one-way trip towards the giant lake that surrounded Vance castle. It plopped in without much resistance, and the splash it made was relatively small. Even the sound of the impact was absorbed by this wide open area, and the noise seemed quieter than it should have been.<p>

His mind briefly registered the fact that it was paying a lot more attention to these tiny details than usual. Perhaps it was an attempt to distract himself from thinking about how his friends had seen him as a liability. Being a burden was not something Church was accustomed to. He was used to being serviceable: used to being reliable, and even needed. As an elite soldier of a carefully hand-picked team, that was the norm for him. But here... he was seen as little more than a charge who wasn't valuable in the slightest. At least as far as any type of operation was concerned.

It made him angry. Furious even. To realize how utterly useless he was in his current state inspired bitter feelings. If only he could get his hands on some sort of familiar equipment; a firearm, some type of explosive, or some such. But alas, there were no such things in this world, as far as Church knew. And so, he was condemned to be little more than a setback for his friends.

But then he remembered what Airi had said to him before she left. She had told him the exact opposite of what Church had thought of himself: what if his thoughts on his uselessness were also his own misconceptions? This idea swirled around in his mind for a few minutes, and the more he thought about it, the more Church wanted it to be true. He didn't _have _to be useless. Why not make himself useful? With that in mind, the Legion commando began to formulate a plan...

* * *

><p>"Sir! She's back!"<p>

The Lance Corporal that guarded the portal between the Vance territory and the Queen's lands looked up from his whittling on the shaft of his spear. Coming his way from Vance territory was General Claudette, on horseback, with a group of soldiers following likewise behind her.

"Already? How strange..."

Private Myles cast a look of confusion at his senior guard. "What do you mean, Sir?"

"Well, the day after we let the 'General' through here, the patrols circulated the news that General Claudette hasn't left the territory in nearly a month."

It took a few moments for Private Myles to wrap his head around this. "So then... who was...?"

"Exactly."

Both soldiers fell silent as Claudette and her entourage approached. The commanding woman came to a stop in front of the gate, and scrutinized the troopers before her with her serious green eyes. "Why isn't this gate already open, soldier? Surely you saw me coming long before now."

The Lance Corporal eyed the General and her troops with suspicion. "We sure did General. But we aren't going to let you through without the proper examination this time. You'll have to forgive me."

Claudette cocked an eyebrow at the senior soldier in question. "_This _time? What do you mean?"

"You should know, _General. _You went through less than two days ago."

This piece of information made Claudette go silent. After a few moments of deliberation, she turned to face her lieutenant. "Turn around. We're heading back to the castle right now."

Without a single word of dissent, her lieutenant made a series of hand motions that ordered his unit to turn around. Claudette also followed suit, but before taking her leave, she turned to face the Lance Corporal once more.

"If you ever address me with that tone again, a demotion will be the least of your worries."

The Lance Corporal's face paled as he watched his most high commander leave. Private Myles looked on with terror. "I-I thought this was supposed to be the least stressful assignment available..."

* * *

><p>Church strode down the long stone bridge that led to the Vance castle with confidence. He had a plan. It was a stupid, crazy plan, but in the words of that actor in the movie "Master of Disguise", it was so crazy that it just might work. He finally came to the halfway point, where a squad of soldiers stood guard.<p>

Seeing a lone man in strange cloths stride towards them was a strange sight. The sergeant of the squad stepped forward to intercept Church. "What do you want? This is no place for civilians to be roaming around."

"I would like to inform you that there is something on your face."

The sergeant cocked an eyebrow at him. "What...?"

Church took this opportunity to make a joke that only he would understand. He slugged the soldier before him in the face. "It was pain!"

* * *

><p><strong>Mostly little dialogue changes here and there.<strong>


	20. The Inside Looking Out

**Here we go: my second chapter written on my new schedule. It's actually kind of annoying to have to have a solid update time for myself, but I know it is for the best. So anyway, let's get going. **

* * *

><p>"Hurry up, just get him out of here already!"<p>

The sergeant with the broken nose shouted these orders to half of his soldiers, and they complied without hesitation, proceeding to drag Church towards the castle with his hands bound, while the others maintained their posts. Assaulting a Vance soldier wasn't serious enough for severe punishment, but it wasn't a light enough matter for a mere fine. So a day or two in the castle dungeon would suffice for a suitable punishment.

Of course, this was just what Church wanted: what better way to infiltrate a heavily fortified stronghold than to be dragged in by its own troops? Now, Church had been roughed up a bit by the soldiers, but considering the fact that he had slugged one of them in the jaw, that wasn't surprising. Besides, he didn't think anyone would ever beat him up as badly as Echidna had, so compared to that, this level of physical abuse was laughable.

As Church was forced towards the castle by the sharp and quite pointy weapons of his captors, he witnessed the defenses of said structure first-hand. The walls looked thick and strong, and they were patrolled by no less than fifty soldiers. The gates themselves were large, steel things that would render a battering ram useless, unless it was of similar strength. Beyond that, there were several towers as well, and Church could see archers in the ones that were close enough to him.

All of these defenses made Church wonder how Airi and Melona had gotten inside. Of course, Melona had already made it in and out once already, so she must've had a method for infiltrating the fortress. No doubt she had simply utilized it a second time, but with Airi in tow.

The group of soldiers that escorted Church stopped at the aforementioned steel gates, forced to wait for an inspection just like everyone else. Surprisingly, the soldier that came out to inspect the prisoner and his escort was a woman. Not that there was anything wrong with that in itself, but as far as medieval-like history went, a female soldier was an uncommon phenomenon. In fact, the only one Church could think off was Joan of Arc, and she had even disguised herself as a man in the beginning.

Although, now that Church thought about it, all of the real warriors he had seen were female: beyond the occupation of a normal soldier, Church had seen no men that were on an equal fighting level of the girls he had met so far. Something about that seemed backwards, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it: he was soon being patted down for hidden weapons and the like, and it took most of Church's concentration to avoid reacting in a...'questionable' way.

The search didn't take long, for Church really didn't have any weapons concealed in his garments, and he was waved through by the soldier that searched him. The gates were opened, and Church's sapphire blue eyes were met with the castle's inner courtyard. He purposefully neglected paying attention to unimportant details like appearance. Instead, Church focused his mind on aspects of the courtyard that may prove helpful or detrimental should a quick escape be necessary later on. Angles, troop locations, blind spots: whatever he needed to notice, he did.

Which was good, because he only got to spend roughly ten seconds in the courtyard before being ushered into the castle itself. Church did his best to commit the details he needed to memory, and discard the rest. Having done that fairly quickly, his attention now focused on the interior of the castle. It was ornately decorated with tapestries, carpets, and lots of expensive looking furniture. But the most noticeable thing was a large painting on the wall to his right: it was a large work of art, and easily dominated the hall. On it was a trio of women, all fairly young. The two younger looking ones were blonde, and the oldest had a shade of red similar to Airi's, though it was nowhere near as beautiful in his opinion.

Although they were pretty, per se, Church did not really find them all that attractive. Beyond that, he wondered who they were. After all, they must've been important, since they had such a professional piece dedicated to them.

Church was pushed past the painting by the hasty soldiers behind him, and it soon left his thoughts. It was an irrelevant detail anyway. Church was led through several twists, turns, and staircases throughout the fortress, but the more of the castle he saw, the less he payed attention to it. Instead, he focused on memorizing the path he had been forced to take, so that he could remember his way out of this maze-like structure.

Finally, after what seemed like an unnecessarily long tour through the castle grounds, Church was thrown into a cell on the basement level of the castle. The iron bars of the cell were slammed shut behind him, and having been deemed little more than a nuisance, none of the soldiers stayed behind to guard him.

Left alone, except for the occasional rodent scurrying through the darkness, Church looked around the chamber. He was surprised to see that there were no other prisoners in the dungeon with him. Obviously, this punishment found little use: but was that because these Vance people didn't take many prisoners, or because they preferred other disciplinary actions?

Church discarded these frivolous thoughts, and turned his focus to escaping instead. Sure, he could hope for Airi and Melona to stumble upon him and rescue him, but they still thought he was waiting for them back at the lake. There was a very high chance that they would leave the castle without ever knowing that he was in danger. Besides, he had come to be helpful, not become a liability. So that option was out of the question.

On the other hand, Church didn't have anything he could cut the rope binds on his wrists with. The soldiers had neglected to tie them behind his back, which gave the commando some more maneuverability, but without any tools, the most effective implement Church had was his teeth, and he was reluctant to gnaw at the rope like a rat. He would have to be creative about this...

* * *

><p>"Seriously Melona, how could you have lost your way? You've already been here twice!"<p>

Melona answered Airi's question irritably. "This castle has a stupid design, OK?! Stop blaming me for that!"

The two servants of the Swamp Witch roamed around the upper hallways of Vance castle, attempting to locate the Count so Airi could perform her assigned task. So far, they had avoided detection by patrolling guards by melting into the tiniest puddle possible and fading into the walls, respectively.

But although they could probably sneak around the castle for hours, Airi had no wish to do so. She had been reluctant to leave Church alone in the first place, never mind for an extended period of time. She wanted to finish up here as quickly as possible. With that in mind, she was floating through the halls quite a bit faster than she should have been. Of course, being a spirit, she didn't have to worry about actually hitting anything. It was being noticed by people that was her main concern.

But for the most part, these upper halls seemed sparsely populated by troops or servants, and should she actually be detected by someone, Airi was sure that she could take care of them before they could sound the alarm. At least, she would've been able to handle most people that way. But the person ahead of her, that was another story. She could probably beat her, but Airi wasn't so sure she could do it fast enough to avoid alarming the castle guards.

Airi entered her ethereal state as she raced towards the Vance Captain of the guards, who had just rounded a corner into the hallway Airi was speeding through. Fortunately, Airi had lost all physical form before Elina noticed her, and Airi passed through the woman's body as easily as if hadn't even been there. For a brief moment, Airi was pretty sure she had seen the girl's insides, but she tried not to dwell on it. Her speed carried Airi through the wall up ahead, leaving Melona to fend for herself. She wasn't doing anything useful at the moment anyway.

The wraith passed through the stone barrier effortlessly, and came out on the other side of it in mere seconds. Still, seconds was a lot, considering how fast Airi had been moving. It must've been a really thick wall: and thick walls protect important things. As luck would have it, this chamber was exactly the one that Airi was looking for. She was standing (or floating, rather) in the Count's personal bedchamber. Convenient didn't even begin to describe the situation.

Maintaining her spiritual form, Airi searched around the room for the Count, or, should he not be anywhere within, leave a spell that would activate when he entered. Airi didn't know why her master wanted to speak with the man, but that was what the Swamp Witch wanted, and Airi lived to serve.

It was soon obvious that the bedchamber was not occupied by the Count at this time, so Airi searched for a suitable place to leave the mark that would activate the spell when it was needed. The spell needed a reflective surface, first of all, and so Airi located the one mirror in the whole room. It was quite large, and would easily suffice for her purpose.

Airi hovered over to the mirror and drew a mystical circle on the floor in front of it with her finger: it was a sort of magical trap that the Swamp Witch had supplied her with. When the Count stepped on it, not only would he be held in place, but whatever message the Swamp Witch had for him would be displayed on the mirror.

As Airi finished drawing the mystical symbol, it disappeared, not gone, but hidden from sight. Concluding that her work here was done, and that Master would be pleased that things had gone so smoothly, Airi left the chamber the same way she had come in, eager to return to her friends and leave this wretched place.

* * *

><p>Church furiously scraped his bonds along the jagged edge of the stone wall in his cell. A part of the stone was jutting out just enough for him to use its edge to slowly cut through the rope that bound him. However, it was taking longer than he had hoped. He had been at this for nearly ten minutes, and he had only abraded through roughly a fourth of the thick rope. He wasn't eager to spend another thirty repeating this extremely tiring exercise.<p>

Not that he had a choice. He would not be a liability to his friends. He would do something to aid them. He wasn't going to sit back and let everyone else perform without him. That thought urged him on, and Church moved his arms as rapidly as he could, in an effort to accelerate the process of separating the rope from his wrists.

"That's going to take an awfully long time."

Startled, Church turned to face the one who had addressed him. Strangely, her voice sounded familiar... and as he laid eyes on her, he knew why.

"You!"

Hachiel nodded. "Me. Do you need help with that?"

Church cocked an eyebrow at the golden-eyed angel. "Where's the blue-haired one? Off napping somewhere?"

Hachiel laughed, and as Church would have expected, it sounded musical and light. "Actually no. For once, she's doing something useful, which would be surveying this whole situation from above."

"How did you get in here anyway? Surely a glowing white angel with pink hair is pretty hard to _not_ notice."

Hachiel folded her hands over her chest, like a nun or priest or some such. "When Heaven has goals in mind, it shields its agents from the eyes of those that would hamper their progress."

"So you were just really sneaky?"

Hachiel frowned. "Er, no... I'm sure I was under divine protection. Now, do you need help or not?"

"Why would you help me?"

Hachiel wondered how much she should say. "You are... of interest to certain parties, and my superior would like to know why. Unless you are already privy to that answer?"

Church cocked his head to the side. "But if I told you the answer, wouldn't I lose importance and therefore no longer need to be rescued?"

"Uh...hmm. I guess you would... alright then, compromise?"

Hachiel gripped the bars to Church's cell. "If I get you out of here, will you promise to tell me what I need to know?"

Church nodded, fully aware that he did not have the answers this angel was looking for. He felt kind of guilty for deceiving her in such a way, but he did need to get out of here, and fast. "Of course. I promise."

Not one to distrust people without due cause, Hachiel nodded, content with Church's answer. She flexed her fingers around the cell door for a moment or two, and began to pull. After a few seconds of resistance, the door was ripped off of its hinges. Church stared at the angel while she gently placed the cell door as quietly as she could manage on the ground beside her.

"W-wow... I uh... didn't see that coming."

Hachiel looked at Church quizzically. "Why not?"

"Well, you do seem rather... dainty. I didn't expect that kind of strength from you."

Hachiel shrugged. "We angels are quite powerful: although I am one of the weaker ones."

"Weaker? Is Nanael even stronger than you?"

"Oh yes, Nanael is actually one of the strongest of us common angels. However, the Seraph does not think she is responsible enough for such strength, and so she placed a power limiter on her..."

Church walked up to the angel, hoping she would rip apart his binds as easily as she had the steel door. "Power limiter? How does that work?"

Hachiel pulled apart the frayed rope that bound Church's wrists with ease. "Never mind. We have something more important to do at the moment."

Church nodded, content with leaving the details of something irrelevant like that alone for the moment. He followed Hachiel up the stairs, and since he was well aware that the angel's goal was to get him out of the castle, wondered how he would ditch her in the halls above. He couldn't help Airi and Melona if he was forcefully evacuated from the castle.

As the two of them reached the doorway out of the dungeon, Church took the lead. He turned to face Hachiel and motioned for her to stay where she was and keep quiet. He cracked the door open slowly and only slightly: just enough to peek out of it. The hallway seemed empty, at least from this angle. Unable to see any further, Church pushed the door open to a wider extent. He stepped out of it, unwittingly putting himself within the view of someone very unhappy to see him. Not him particularly, but anyone of his sort.

"Oh, an escaped prisoner? I suppose I could use something to entertain myself for awhile..."

Church turned to face a voice he didn't recognize. Who he saw looked familiar, but he wasn't sure why. It was a blonde girl who looked remarkably close to a cat. She sported tiger-pattern garments, a clawed gauntlet, and even some sort of head ornament that looked like cat ears. She also held a metal spear that looked quite dangerous.

"Ah... no, milady. I'm the...servant boy. I just got done scrubbing the dungeon floors."

The young blonde took a few steps forward in order to come closer to Church, and she scrutinized him with suspicion. "You don't look like any of the servants I've seen around here lately."

Church's mind scrambled as he thought of a way to avoid being discovered. Fortunately, in that moment, he recognized why this girl looked so familiar. She had been one of the three girls in that painting earlier, meaning she must've held a position of importance.

Church bowed low. "Milady, I'm sure that a lowly servant like me has done little to attract the attention of one such as yourself. I am not even worthy of your attention. I also spend most of my time in places too lowly for the likes of you, such as the dungeon and kitchens. That is why I must not be familiar to you."

The girl was seemingly pleased by all of this, tossing her hair with her free hand. "Hmph. Well that's true. I don't pay much attention to commoners like yourself. My attention needs to be focused on more important things, like finding Leina. Anyway, carry on, do whatever it is folk of your status do."

With that, the arrogant woman continued on her walk down the hall, and Church breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Is she gone? It'd be hard to escape with her onto us."

Church cringed, casting a steely gaze at Hachiel, who still hid beyond the door to the dungeon, completely oblivious to her blunder. Church also looked towards the potential danger behind him, praying that she had not heard such an obvious giveaway.

...she had.

"It would be hard for you to escape with me onto you, wouldn't it?"

Church sighed to himself. He didn't even have the will to curse his bad luck.

* * *

><p><strong>OK, this is really short, but I'm going to be spending this weekend with some extended family, and I don't have all the time to write that I usually do. However, next week's chapter will have a lot of fun between Elina and Church, the angels, and everyone else, so I promise it'll be better next time, when I have more time to write and I'm not distracted by other matters. <strong>


	21. Castle Crasher Extraordinaire

**This was one of those chapters I was originally unhappy with, but now that I've updated it, I feel much better. For anyone who may be reading this updated version after reading the original, what do you think?  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"You just had to open your mouth!"<p>

Church berated Hachiel as the two of them bolted down the halls of Vance castle in an attempt to escape from their homicidal pursuer.

The pink-haired angel flew alongside Church, giving him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry! There's no way I could've known, I didn't hear you talking with her!"

"How could you not have heard it? Is being deaf like a counter to your insane strength or something?!"

Hachiel had no time to reply as they heard the voice of their pursuer echo from the halls behind them. "The more you run, the angrier I'll be! If you just surrender now, I'll at least make it quick!"

The fact that she had not mentioned quick _and _painless was not lost on Church, who pushed his legs even harder than before. "Son of a bitch, she's gaining on us!"

Hachiel frowned. "Please, refrain from using such language in my presence, as I don't-"

"You be quiet! This whole situation is your fault anyway, so you have no right to complain!"

With no way to refute that statement, Hachiel fell silent and merely continued her flight alongside Church. The thought that it was almost impossible for the human chasing them to hurt Hachiel was completely lost on the angel as she panicked over the situation just as much as Church did.

* * *

><p>Having accomplished the mission she had been sent to the castle for, Airi had been quick to reunite with Melona, who, although feisty, had been smart enough to let the Vance captain of the guard pass her without incident. Although the wraith could've ditched Melona and just left by going through the roof or some such, she decided against it, because she didn't trust the troublesome slime to just leave quietly on her own. With Elina avoided, the two of them were now sneaking back out of the castle. Unfortunately, even with Airi accompanying her, Melona still wasn't quiet.<p>

"Airi, you bitch! Leaving me back there alone just when that tiger-girl showed up!"

The redhead sighed in exasperation. "Are you telling me that you couldn't have handled her yourself? Have you become that weak?"

The pink-clad assassin flipped a middle finger at her friend. "Of course I could have taken her, but the fact that you left me is what's important!"

"Since when did you care for sentimentality anyway?"

"That's beside the point: I mean, what kind of-!"

Melona's retort was cut off by an unusually loud clap of thunder, followed by a palpable, tingly vibe reverberating through the air.

The peculiar feeling caused Airi to shiver. "Well that's... ominous..."

Melona shrugged, apparently not affected, or not caring even if she was. "Well there's this astounding phenomenon called nature, Airi. Geez, I thought you were supposed to be the brains of the group."

"You know, cutting you in half with my scythe may not physically hurt you, but if I have my ghosts fly away with half of your body, it could be mildly entertaining."

* * *

><p>"What kind of castle has a hallway that leads to a dead-end on purpose!?"<p>

Church and Hachiel both stood in front of a flat stone wall, at the end of a long and twisting hallway that they both thought would have actually lead them somewhere. Church clutched his head in frustration.

"Whose idea was this?!" (Somewhere, Private Myles' great-great-great grandfather turned in his grave).

Knowing that shouting at the wall wasn't going to accomplish anything, Church and Hachiel turned to face their mutual enemy, who was just rounding the corner to catch her prey. The blond woman ran her tongue over her lips as she approached, reminding Church of a hungry tiger. He turned to his angelic comrade, desperate for some way to escape.

"Hacheil, you're super strong, right? Just go up and Falcon Punch her or something!"

Hachiel blanched at the mere thought of engaging in violence. "I-I would never do such a thing! To use the gifts I have been granted for violence is sin of the highest caliber!"

Church scowled, he was all for love and peach and what have you, but when you needed to fight, you needed to fight. "Well don't you have any angelic powers, like laser eyes, or a sonic scream or something?!

Hachiel eyed the man she was trying to rescue incredulously. "What kind of stories have people been telling you about angels? We can't do any of that!"

Their short-lived argument was interrupted by an impatient hunter. "Are you two going to be fun and resist me or just quarrel until I skewer you?"

Hachiel's face showed a sign of queasiness as she imagined being impaled, gutted, or 'skewered'. The fact that a human weapon would barely scratch her still had not dawned on the poor girl. Church on the other hand, was unfazed. He had an angel on his team, how could he lose?

...right?

"I'll have you know that this angel here is powerful enough to pulverize every bone in your body with one punch! So no one is getting skewered! Such a pathetic threat wouldn't affect me anyway!"

The blond cat woman grinned wickedly, clearly not intimidated in any way. "Is that so? Well then, there was this one time in the village when I saw one of the peasants castrating a pig..."

Church's face completely drained itself of blood. He turned to Hachiel again and waved his arms frantically. "Get us out of here right now! We needed to be gone like, yesterday!"

"B-but how?!"

Church's mind worked as fast as it could, but he started getting a little panicky as his pursuer began inching closer to him.

"Damn it woman, you ripped a metal door off of its hinges, can't you punch a hole in a wall!?"

"That wall is probably several feet thick, are you crazy?! Maybe Nanael could, but I'm not as strong as her, remember?!"

Both of them watched as their impending death, in the form of a vicious and violent blonde, came ever closer to them. "Damn it Hachiel, can't you at least fight out of self-defense?!"

"Stop yelling at me! I-I don't believe in violence!"

Church and Hachiel backed up against the hard stone wall behind them, which only put a few more feet between them and their pursuer, who was casually advancing towards the duo. She looked hungry, but it wasn't the kind of hunger that could be sated by food.

_Oh shit, oh shit, ohhhhhh shit..._

Church was now only moments away from possible castration. What could save him? Only a miracle...

"Miss Elina!"

The voice of a young girl from behind the three engaged in this disastrous event served to momentarily interrupt it. The spear-wielding girl turned to face the one who had called her, who had appeared at an intersection further back in the hallway. "What do you want, Florelle? Can't you see I'm busy?"

The girl further back down the hall, who was strangely dressed like a boy, was unfazed by her superior's irritable tone. "General Claudette is back! She's crossing the bridge right now!"

"R-really!? Already? I can't believe she found big sis so fast! Let's go, take me to her!"

A look of confusion crossed the young squire's face as she pointed to Church and Hachiel, who had unwittingly wrapped their arms around each other in terror. "But what about those two?"

The woman who would've been the death of Church and his companion sprinted past the girl and grabbed her sleeve, dragging her along. "Forget them Florelle! Take me to my sisters now! Let's go!"

Church and Hachiel watched as their brush with death forgot them entirely. Heaving a sigh and releasing each other from their fear-induced embrace, they could scarcely believe their good luck. Hachiel decided this was an appropriate time to make a 'wise' comment.

"As you can see, those who serve heaven receive divine-"

Church waved the pinkette off. "Yeah, how about no? Let's get out of here before she comes back, since you're too much of a ninny to fight even if it meant _saving our lives_!"

Hachiel hung her head, and proceeded to sulk as she followed Church away from the dead-end and hopefully towards an exit. She mumbled to herself all the while. "...violence is wrong..."

But since Church had no idea how to get out of this accursed stronghold, thanks to his panicked retreat from that crazy cat woman, he really had no idea where to go.

"How the hell are we going to find our way out of here...?"

* * *

><p>"You screwed up, Melona: again.I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not. I'm really, really not."<p>

Melona and Airi stood on one of the castle parapets that overlooked the main courtyard far below them. They had found an exit leading to these ramparts, and had already dispatched the few guards that were on patrol up here: now the two supernatural girls directed their attention to the scene below them. A decent sized unit of Vance soldiers had just entered through the castle gates, and they were led by none other than the Thundercloud General.

Airi placed her hands on her hips as she laced her words with obvious sarcasm. "I thought you said she 'Should be gone for several months?'"

Melona scowled at her ghostly companion. She was just as displeased about the situation, and did not need to be ribbed by the girl beside her.. "Shut up, Airi. She _was_ supposed to be gone for a couple of months. I don't know why she's back already!"

Airi rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be an expert in espionage or something? Yet somehow you haven't succeeded in a single endeavor so far..."

"You know, people call me a monster, but sometimes, I think you're more of a bitch than I am, Airi."

"Only to you. Besides, even if you made a mistake, this could still turn out well for us."

Melona cocked an eyebrow at the undead maid. "How? This can hardly be a good thing. It's believed that Claudette could fight on the same level as Queen Aldra. Who knows what she could do to us?"

Airi smirked at her comrade. She knew all the right buttons to push to goad Melona into action. "Oh, is that fear I'm hearing? Melona, you aren't scared, are you?"

Melona shook a fist at the accosting wraith. "The hell I am! Of course I'm not scared of that flame-haired floozy! That scarlet-haired skank is going down! In fact, I'm gonna take that redheaded harlot right now!"

With that, Melona hopped off of the wall. Airi called after her, attempting to inform the slime of her stupidity. "Wait, Melona! That's not what I meant! And hey, what the hell are you trying to say about girls with red hair?!"

Airi face-palmed as she watched her friend rush towards what was simply put, a major ass-whipping. The idea had been for Melona to disguise herself as one of the soldiers and stealthily assassinate the General, not go toe-to-toe with the woman. The wraith sighed, and decided to follow her comrade to the ground and assist her. Sure, they were probably going to lose, but if the two of them had even a slight chance to eliminate such a strong potential contestant for the Queen's Blade before the main tournament even started, then their future job would be much easier.

* * *

><p>Claudette scanned the courtyard intensely, looking for anything out of place. Some sort of imposter was masquerading as her, and chances were that such deception was being employed for the purpose of infiltrating Vance castle. But as far as she could tell, everything was as it should be. Nothing was wrong here: the only bad thing currently manifesting itself was a thunderstorm brewing in the dark skies.<p>

She motioned to her entourage of soldiers and spoke an order to her lieutenant. "Find the Count, and make sure he is safe. Protect him until I order otherwise. Also, find Captain Elina and direct her to me. She will be the one to tell me if anything has gone awry in my short absence."

The soldiers simultaneously saluted, and answered with a combined, "Yes, General!" before rushing off to fulfill their orders. Within moments, Claudette was left alone in the castle courtyard. Unfortunately, the solitude was short lived.

"Hey, _General. _Long time, no see! Well... actually I guess the two of us have never met... but, even so, I think that phrase still fits..."

Claudette turned to face the source of this new voice, and was met with a sight of a familiar bunny-eared figure, alongside a scythe-wielding stranger. Claudette herself had never encountered the pink one, but she had been spotted by soldiers on the walls the night Leina had disappeared from the castle. It was only logical to assume that the damage had been done by this peculiar individual.

"You: you are the one that attacked the castle before... and also tried to kill Leina."

The enemy grinned mischievously. "Yeah, that's right. How's that hole in your roof?"

"The Count is still quite irritable about it. However, he is even more furious that you dared to attack his daughter. As am I. Prepare yourself."

Not one to mince words, Claudette drew Thunderclap and pointed the blade towards the two women before her, who both readied weapons of their own, though the pink one seemingly formed a blade from her own body. The redheaded one cast a sideways glance at her comrade before either of them made a move.

"She doesn't waste a lot of breath, does she? I hope you know what you're doing, Melona."

"Of course I do! So shut up and let's go!"

Both adversaries charged the General simultaneously. They came from different angles, but both of their swings were easily blocked by the wide blade of Claudette's sword. Her opponents twisted around and struck again, but their blows were deflected with ease. Claudette shoved both girls away with just one hand.

"If that's all you can do, this is going to be a short battle."

Melona scowled at the woman. She hated being looked down on, especially by high and mighty types like this one. "You bitch... I'll show you just what I can do..."

The edge of Airi's scythe glowed purple as she charged it with spiritual energy. "Calm down Melona, she's just trying to bait you. We just started, don't lose focus."

Based off her words, Claudette assumed that the maid was the more level-headed member of this duo, and therefore more of a threat. A focused mind was more dangerous than a sharpened blade: which, ironically, was one of the main reasons Vance didn't go to war with the Queen.

Claudette was a seasoned warrior and strategist, and Vance's army was a force to be reckoned with, but no one outsmarted Queen Aldra. The young woman who ruled the Continent was called the Twilight Queen, but in military circles, she was more often referred to as the Supreme Tactician. Those who had witnessed the girl's prowess during the Barbarian Wars knew full well that Aldra was a strategic genius, and right now there was no way Vance could go to war with her and emerge victorious. The only surefire way to defeat Aldra would be to possess such overwhelming numbers that no strategy she used could turn the tide of battle. And unfortunately, Vance territory was too small to field an army of that size.

Quickly remembering that she was in battle, Claudette pushed such irrelevant thoughts from her mind. As her enemy had said, they had just started, and she couldn't lose her focus.

She returned her attention to the field just in time too: the pink shape-shifter rushed forward again, and Claudette was forced to defend herself. This time, the maid stayed back. Claudette was worried about leaving the woman unattended, but the current threat was more than enough to keep her occupied. Although sloppy, her gelatinous enemy was quick, and Thunderclap was forced to block a flurry of blows. However, her superior swordsmanship was enough to protect Claudette from her foe. She had no trouble in deflecting every blow thrown at her.

Seeing an opening in her opponent's rapid attacks, Claudette whipped her claymore around and sliced off Melona's arm. Despite the seemingly grievous wound, the pink-clad girl was unfazed, although she was angered.

"Damn it, why the hell are you so good? I mean I knew you would be, but this is bull-!"

Her sentence was cut off as a purple crescent sliced the slime in half and continued to fly towards Claudette. The energy attack moved at an incredibly high speed, and there was just barely enough time for the Thundercloud General to raise her sword in defense. Not only was the energy blade incredibly fast, it was also very powerful: as it impacted Thunderclap's edge, it sliced a full inch into the enchanted steel and then launched Claudette several paces away from her opponents.

Seeing the lack of fatal damage to her enemy, the maid who had launched the supernatural attack berated herself even as she tried to catch her breath. Spirit attacks always took a lot out of her. "Damn it... I guess the lack of life-force is making me weaker..."

Claudette recovered from the attack quickly, and was able to watch in awe as her pink-clad adversary put herself back together. "Airi, what the hell!? You went _through _me! Are you blind!?"

"Oh shut up. It obviously didn't hurt you, seeing as you're still feeling good enough to complain about it."

"That's beside the point, you stupid bitch! I'm on your team!"

Claudette rose to her feet, angrily glancing at the inch deep cut in her beloved claymore. She charged the energy she would need for a powerful blast of lightning. "You two are little more than a nuisance, and now you've irritated me enough to warrant an attack such as this. Pests like you will be vaporized!"

* * *

><p>Having finally located an exit from the interior of the castle, Church and Hachiel stepped outside, but unfortunately onto the castle wall, instead of into the courtyard. Church hadn't even realized he had somehow made it upstairs during his flight from Elina. He could only guess that he had been too busy running to really pay attention to where exactly he was running to.<p>

He was about to ask if Hachiel could carry him to ground level when a flash of blue lightning came crashing down into the courtyard below them, causing both individuals to recoil from the ensuing explosion below.

"What the hell?! Even the sky is trying to kill me!"

As if his words were some kine of trigger, it immediately began pouring rain. The heavens must've opened their gates extra wide, because the cold water from the skies began falling in sheets, quickly drenching everyone who stood outside.

Church looked up at the dark skies in dismay. "Oh, God dam-"

Hachiel swatted him in the back of the head, cutting his expletive short. "I'm sorry, but what you were about to say was blasphemous!"

Church eyed the pink-haired angel irritably, but refrained from making a retort. Instead, his attention was attracted to another angel descending from the skies above. Nanael wasted no time in getting out of the air as quickly as possible, and she landed beside her fellow angel and her human charge.

"For the love- is that woman just followed by inclement weather or something?!"

Hachiel eyed her companion disdainfully. "I thought I told you to stay up there and watch! Why are you down here?!"

"I'd like to see you up there during a torrential rainstorm!"

Hachiel crossed her arms. "Nanael, you are protected from such things by heavenly energies: you were in no danger whatsoever."

Nanael responded with some amount of paranoia. "Yeah, well if the Seraph wanted to fry me and make it look like an accident, this would be the perfect situation to do it!"

"Well if you were more-!"

Deciding that this was no time for an argument, Church interjected here. "Look ladies, as much as I love to hear you bicker, can we please focus on the problem at hand?"

Nanael finally acknowledged the human's presence. "What problem? Besides the fact that I'm soaked..."

Having brought that up, Nanael had inadvertently drawn Church's attention to the fact that she _was _soaked, and that both she and Hachiel were both clad in nothing but white. He could literally see right though their garments, revealing everything for Church's viewing pleasure. Subconsciously, he found it cute that even the patterns on the girl's panties were respectively blue and pink.

Still, the lovely view before him aside, Church could not help but think it was a special kind of wrong to view angels in such a way, and he shook his head frantically, trying to dispel the image of the angel's feminine charms: especially Nanael's. She was much more well-endowed than she appeared when not soaking wet.

Unable to stop thinking about the sight before him with willpower alone, Church sought a distraction by moving towards the edge of the wall to view the damage the lightning strike earlier had caused to the courtyard below.

He did indeed find a distraction, but certainly not in the form he had hoped for. Church had finally found the two friends he had come here to aid, but he was evidently late to the party. Airi and Melona were squaring off against a woman with a sword nearly the size of the wielder herself, and by the looks of things, they were in dire straits. Airi was still standing, though she was clearly having difficulty managing even that. Melona was on her knees, struggling to stay conscious at all. If Church had been a little closer, he may have noticed that Melona was having a little trouble maintaining consistency, but the distance and the rain obscured this from him, and Church no more aware of the inhuman nature of his friends than before.

Nanael and Hachiel peeked over Church's shoulder to view the damage for themselves, the latter commenting on the situation below. "Ah... fighting with the Thundercloud General? That was a very unwise decision."

Church tried to identify the woman Hachiel was referring to. It was pretty easy to spot the only unscathed combatant in the courtyard. "T-that woman with the claymore? She did this?"

Hachiel nodded. "Her sword has the ability to channel electricity, and she is also a peerless swordsman. Your companions made a foolish mistake, and possibly a fatal error as well. The General looks none too pleased with them.

Church watched as the apparently formidable woman advanced towards his friends. Was she going to kill them? She was too far to really identify the expression she wore, but her body language spoke volumes about her wrath. He had to do something fast, and he only had one option. Church turned to face the angelic duo that was currently his only weapon.

"Then what are you guys waiting for?! You have to help them!"

Nanael replied incredulously before Hachiel could say anything at all. "Are you crazy? Those two are _not _our friends. In fact, the General is doing us a favor."

Church couldn't believe he was hearing this from angels, of all things. "You can't be serious! The two of you are angels! You're not really just going to stand by and watch as two people are killed, are you?!

Both angels visibly cringed as Church accused them. They both seemed uncomfortable with the judgment being passed on them. Sure, the Swamp Witch's minions were their enemies, but Nanael and Hachiel were heavenly beings: helping those in need was supposed to be at the core of their values.

Seeing that he was making some impact, Church pressed on. "Hachiel, you hate violence, don't you? If that's true, how can you stand idly by and let something like this happen!? And Nanael, if you're really as wonderful and amazing as you claim to be, there's no way you would let someone die just because you aren't on good terms with them! You're supposed to be-!"

Whether or not she was truly convinced, Nanael cut him off with a chop of her hand. "Alright, alright, shut up already! I'll rescue your stupid monkey friends! But you'd better tell Hachi everything she wants to know as payment! I don't do this heroism stuff for free y'know!"

The blue-haired angel turned to her friend. "Go check on those nimrods and get 'em out of here. I'll hold off the General."

Hachiel nodded, an uncertain frown all too evident on her face. "I will, but I don't think the Seraph would approve of this..."

Church watched as both angels flew down to the ground below to save his friends. He thought to himself as he watched them. _I'm apparently a lot more persuasive than I thought I was...  
><em>

Unfortunately, Church had no choice but to stay up on the wall and watch this accursed fiasco from above. After all, unlike his angelic companions, he couldn't fly, and if he jumped from up here, he would only paint the ground below a very nasty color. He watched as Nanael landed in-between Airi and the woman advancing towards her, jabbing a finger at the Vance woman as she did so.

"Alright look, as much as I hate to say it, these monkeys are under our protection. Back off and nobody has to get hurt. Well, y'know, nobody _else _has to get hurt."

Claudette stopped her advance, but hardly seemed to take Nanael seriously. "This is none of your concern, angel. This is not a Queen's Blade match, so your interference here has no grounds. Step aside."

Hachiel landed beside Airi, who was surprised to be receiving aid from her sworn enemies. "I don't know why you're helping us, but if you think we're going to pay you back for it somehow, you're sorely mistaken."

As nice of a person as she was, Hachiel was not very fond of anyone even remotely associated with evil. This being the case, her reply was a little more abrasive than usual, though they were still pretty mellow. "Would you prefer that we not save you, you ingrate? We're only doing this because of your friend Church, so you should be more grateful!"

Airi cocked an eyebrow at Hachiel as the angel slung the wraith's arm over her shoulder. "What on earth are you talking about? There's no way Church could have sent you here, he's back at the... shoreline..."

Airi's sentence petered off as Hachiel pointed a finger at the walls above them, revealing that Church was not were Airi had thought he was. "What the hell is that idiot doing here!? He's going to get killed!"

Not quite sure how Church had gotten into the castle herself, Hachiel had no answer for the woman whose weight she supported. She instead turned her attention to the confrontation between Nanael and Claudette, the latter of which was not happy to be interrupted in the midst of her battle.

"If you intend to get in my way, I will have no choice but to defeat you. This is your last chance."

Most everyone knew that Nanael was not the purest of angels, so not even Hachiel was surprised when she opted for flipping Claudette off instead of answering the woman.

" I see... methods aside, your answer is clear. If that's the case, prepare yourself!"

Claudette's command was punctuated by a blast of lightning that shot forth from the edge of her sword as she swung it in Nanael's direction. The bolt of blue lightning streaked towards the defiant angel before her with blinding speed. Nanael had only a moment to react, and since there was no time to dodge, she bent her left wing in front of her as a sort of shield. The sizzling lightning bolt impacted the soft white feathers a moment later, causing an explosion that showered the area with small bits of debris.

Church cringed from above, worried for Nanael's safety. "Oh hell... if she gets killed doing this, I'll never forgive myself..."

Fortunately, Nanael was no closer to dying than she had been five minutes ago. As the smoke cleared, the maximum extent of damage to Nanael's person was a few singed feathers. She looked irritated more than anything else. "Hey, this is the one good wing I do have! If you mess it up, I'm gonna crush you!"

Obviously angered, the aggressive angel rushed towards the General that had attempted to fry her. Church was curious to see Nanael fight, but unfortunately he would not get to watch the conflict below.

"Hey! How did you get up here!?"

Church's attention was drawn from the battle below and towards the voice of an enemy soldier patrolling the walls. While he knew it would likely fail, he decided to use the same excuse that had tricked Elina earlier. "I'm the... uh... servant boy?"

The soldier ignored Church's lame excuse and charged forward with her lance at the ready. There were only a few paces between her and Church, so the Legion commando had to think fast. As the enemy came in range, Church grabbed the hilt of his attacker's spear just behind the blade and used the long weapon as leverage to swing the light-weight soldier over him in a move that looked similar to vaulting.

The arc sent the poor girl careening over the edge of the castle wall, and over the side opposite to the courtyard. Church, basic lance still in hand, ran over to the edge to determine the fate of the soldier; fortunately, she had fallen into the tumultuous lake that surrounded the castle.

"Sorry! Just don't try to impale me next time!"

Now the waters of the lake were a little rough, thanks to the thunderstorm currently wracking the area, but Church was pretty sure that girl could either swim to shore or back to the castle. After all, he didn't want to kill the her. She was just doing her job: or failing to do so, as it were.

Speaking of deadly storms, more lightning struck the ground in the courtyard behind Church. Now slightly more wary of enemy soldiers, Church moved back to the other edge of the wall to get his bearings on the battle below. Even in the short time he had been distracted, the destruction that had been wrought was tremendous. The General's electric strikes blasted large craters in the ground, and every time said general dodged one of Nanael's attacks (Or she just missed because she was sloppy) the angel's blows tore huge chunks out of whatever inanimate object she hit instead.

Melona had apparently collapsed at some point, As Hachiel had her unconscious body under one arm. Airi was leaning against the girl's other side, held up by Hachiel's angelic strength. She was looking up at him, yelling something, but Church couldn't hear a word of it over the storm and the battle, and so turned his attention to Nanael, trusting Hachiel to get his friends to safety.

Church watched as the General charged up another bolt of electricity. The strain on the woman's face seemed enormous, and Church could only assume that meant this attack would be more powerful than the last. Nanael, aware that she would be able to dodge the attack more easily in the air, proceeded to rise to a higher altitude. It seemed like a good idea to Church, but it only took a moment for him to realize that there was now a linear path from the General to him, with Nanael in-between. Which meant that if Nanael dodged it...

Before Church could inform Nanael of her terrible positioning, the General released her charged elemental attack. Church could almost watch the whole thing unfolding in slow motion. A streak of blue lightning coming his way, Nanael moving to the left to avoid it... the outcome of this poor tactical thinking was inevitable, and obvious to everyone.

"Oh, son of a b-!"

The commando's expletive was cut off as the powered lightning strike impacted the stone wall he stood on. The entire section fragmented and pushed away from one another, including the part that Church stood on. It was a peculiar feeling, to be standing on a solid surface that was careening through the air. It was like being rooted to the ground yet not feeling the weight of gravity.

As he fell, Church thought he might have heard Airi scream his name: but the ringing in his ears was too severe for him to be sure, and there was hardly any time to think at all as the stone shower of debris crashed into the lake that surrounded the castle. Church was plunged into the cold and frothy waters with heavy chunks of stone above him. Before he could move out of the way, one of the larger pieces pinned him under its weight and forced him down to the bottom.

He couldn't get away: not from this weight. Not only that, but Church had not been ready for the impact. Any air he had stored in his lungs had been forced out of him when he slammed into the lake. He kicked and squirmed, but the boulder that restrained him was too much. The force behind its descent kept Church helplessly stuck under it, and so his struggle was in vain.

How far had he sunk already? His vision was fading, and he was losing strength in his limbs. His lungs burned with the inner fire of oxygen deprivation. This situation was hopeless. There was no escape, no salvation. This was the end for him, as he could see no way out.

These were the only bitter thoughts Church had, as he was forced to the bottom of the lake, and his mind faded into oblivion.

* * *

><p><strong>Man, this chapter had a huge overhaul. Lot's of dialogue changes, some descriptors here and there: basically an overall imporvement to the original that I am far more pleased with than before.<br>**


	22. Dark Machinations

**This chapter has been upgraded. Great, right? No? **

* * *

><p>"The audacity of that fiend!"<p>

Count Vance was seated in the war room of his castle, surrounded by his most trusted advisers. The only one absent from this meeting was his adopted daughter, who was busy interrogating her soldiers about the security breach that had occurred a few hours ago. The Count sat silently as he listened to the ranting of Geb, a short, wide, and balding man who was one of his less reserved advisers.

"Who does she think she is, to dare suggest such a ridiculous alliance?!"

Kellian, an older silver haired gentleman whose wisdom Count Vance trusted far more than Geb's, replied to the pudgy adviser's angry words. "That 'fiend' is the Swamp Witch. Do not forget that she is the third power vying for control of this land; she has her own armies, her own vassals, and her own land. And her audacity in this matter may be exactly what we need."

Geb shook his fist at the man. "Are you insane? How can we trust that creature?! She would turn on us before we ever managed to reach Gainos! Besides, our soldiers would never be able to trust undead creatures as allies. They would be too busy watching their backs to fight properly, and against Queen Aldra, such incompetence would result in certain failure!"

The Count interceded at this point. "According to General Claudette, we have no hope of defeating the Queen's armies in battle regardless. We do not have the sheer numbers to compensate for our enemy's skills in warfare. According to General Claudette, this territory could be invaded and conquered at any time, should the Queen choose to do so. We need allies if we are ever to succeed against our foe. Alone we are helpless, whether we attack or defend."

Geb eyed his lord incredulously. "Allies in the form of monsters?! What is there to keep the Witch from betraying us after we win, _if_ we win, against the Queen?"

Kellian stroked his chin in intense thought. "An alliance requires terms, and we could no doubt control a few of them. The Witch's armies are not mortal: we could allow them to face the bulk of Queen Aldra's forces, while our armies bring up the rear. By the time we reach Gainos, the Witch's forces would be significantly diminished, and even if she did turn against us after our theoretical victory over the Queen, the common people would join us against them. I'd say our odds in this alliance are actually better than they are right now. As General Claudette has said, we could be wiped out on Queen Aldra's whim. We can either act now, or sit back and wait for our enemies to come and conquer us."

Geb turned to face the Count. "My Lord, surely you aren't considering this madness!"

Count Vance made no answer. His thoughts were wrapped around the crazy happenings of the past few hours. After the intruders had been evicted from the castle grounds and the guard had been doubled, the Count had returned to his private quarters, tired but content that things were under control for the moment. Before actually retiring for the night, he had stopped in front of his mirror, and had instantly been gripped by an unseen force. He had been unable to move as he received a message from the Swamp Witch, transmitted to him through the reflective surface of his mirror.

The gist of her message was that she wanted an alliance with the Count in order to take down Queen Aldra and her armies. After her lands were conquered, they would be evenly divided between the two victors. Count Vance had no illusions about his ability to trust the Witch: after all, she had long possessed the ambition to rule the entire continent for herself. However, so long as the Queen in power was strong enough to hold back the dark forces, such ambition could not be realized.

The last time the Continent had been in serious danger of being overrun by darkness was roughly a decade ago, when Queen Veronica was still in power. The Queen of Dementia, as she was called, had been a very incompetent leader. Under her rule, the entire continent suffered greatly, from the borderlands all the way to the capital. Veronica had not allowed any advisers or secondary officials during her rule, and the Queen herself had neglected almost all care for her subjects. If the Witch had invaded the continent at that time, it was almost guaranteed that she would be in full control today.

Of course, a lot of warriors realized the danger to their own country as long as Veronica ruled. So when the Queen's Blade rolled around eight years ago, many warriors entered with the sole purpose of removing Veronica from power and restoring the country. One of those warriors had been the Count's wife, Maria. Another contestant had been Aldra, though the Count seriously doubted her motive had been to save the country at that time.

He could still remember watching the battle from the sidelines. The Count had come to the semi-final rounds personally, to watch Maria battle against some white haired, twelve-year old girl. He hadn't approved of his wife's participation in the tournament in the first place, but now that she had come so far... what could he do but watch her perform? Her last opponent before Veronica was some girl, not even in her teens. Count Vance was so sure of her victory... sure that his beloved spouse would defeat her 'enemy', who was no more than a child. It had not occurred to him that the young girl facing his wife had reached the semi-final round by defeating every opponent before then. If only he had known her power: he could've saved Maria before it was too late.

Everything happened in a flash before the grizzled man's eyes. The fight, if one could call it that, lasted only a matter of minutes. It was so one-sided: his dear wife, whom he thought would win with no effort, was outclassed beyond imagination. The girl she fought was a whirlwind of inhuman speed, power, and determination. It came as no surprise to anyone when Maria's head was cleaved from her shoulders. Even the Count had known her defeat was coming, but did not know that Maria would be killed.

That match marked the moment the Count's whole world had been shattered. His wife had just been slain before his eyes, by this monstrous girl named Aldra, who had downright murdered Maria on the field of battle. Killing was usually not allowed in the Queen's Blade, but the people were eager to let someone, anyone, replace Veronica on the throne. And even if anyone had wanted to object, nobody would dare oppose the girl who had indeed killed Veronica and took her throne that year. With the conclusion of that tournament eight years ago, The Queen of Dementia was defeated, and the Twilight Queen took her place. The youngest woman to ever rule the Continent came to power, and in the process, had killed Count Vance's beloved wife.

Dragging himself out of the dark memories of his past, the Count clenched his fists in rage. He would never forget, or forgive, Aldra. It didn't matter that she had restored the continent to sanity and security. It didn't matter that she had defended the people from the North Realm's barbarians. None of the good deeds she had performed in her reign made any difference to him. True, the first two years of Aldra's rule were much like Veronica's, where she neglected the people and the continent as a whole. But in the last six years, the young Queen had rebuilt the continent, and returned its status as a land of prosperity. These were good things, but it didn't matter to him. All that mattered was the brutality, the remorselessness, the cruel murder of his wife: from that day onward, Count Vance had vowed to destroy the Queen, destroy the tournament, and destroy anything related to the evil ways that stole Maria away from him. He now remembered that vow.

He raised his gaze, burning with hatred, to meet Geb and Kellian's. "Find me a messenger to send to the Witch. I will destroy Aldra, and all of her kingdom. If it takes the aid of monsters to do so... so be it."

* * *

><p>"Oh dear... sleeping again, are we?"<p>

Church could hear a distant voice in his head, and although it was male, it sounded strangely familiar. It had been so long since he had spoken to a man, considering his usual female company, that Church could not imagine who this voice belonged to.

His eyes were closed, and Church's body had a certain weightless feeling about it. It felt like he was floating, but that probably meant he had either temporarily regained consciousness in the depths of the lake, or that he was 'floating' in hell. It could've been heaven, but with all the blood on his hands, Church didn't think that was likely.

"Actually, you are in neither heaven nor hell. You're kind of in-between dead and alive: not quite one or the other. And since you're not fully dead, you're not yet in the afterlife."

Had Church thought those things out loud? More importantly, who the hell was answering him?

"It's me, Daedalus. You know... the big god-like voice in the strange dimension of floating pillars? And no, you didn't think those thoughts out loud."

Church kept his eyes shut, convinced that he was crazy. Nevertheless, he spoke back to the voice. After all, it could hardly make his situation any worse. "So you're reading my mind? Stay out of the restricted section."

"Oh yes, a Harry Potter reference. That is funny, but you should probably save the jokes until after I've rescued you from your current predicament.

Church squirmed around in the absolute darkness. "So you said I'm not fully dead: does that mean I'm still alive?"

"More or less."

"How can I be more or less alive? There is no halfway with alive."

Daedalus chuckled. "Under normal circumstances, that would be correct. However, while your soul has been disconnected from your physical body, I am currently keeping you from passing into the afterlife. You are quite a handful, for a hero."

"Hero? Hardly. I basically had to beg angels to save my friends. By the way, are any of them hurt? Everyone is OK, right?"

Daedalus' voice exhibited temporary strain as some part of the healing process grew in intensity. "Fear not... they're fine. Hachiel rescued Airi and Melona from their imminent deaths, and Nanael escaped unscathed. The only one who has been truly harmed is you. Quite seriously, in fact."

Church had plenty of time at the moment, so he spent some of it thinking on this. "So how exactly are you going to save me? Even if you put my soul back in my body, or whatever the hell it is you're doing, my body is still at the bottom of a lake, pinned under a boulder. I'm not looking forward to drowning all over again."

"A little manipulation of nature will be enough to free your physical form from underneath the debris. I can also stir the water a bit, in order to get you closer to the surface."

Church was confounded by all of the abilities this being possessed. "What exactly are you, to have all of these powers?"

Daedalus chuckled once more. "Well, seeing as we have some free time, I might as well enlighten you. After all, we'll be working together far more in the future."

"I don't even want to know what that entails."

The response that came was cheerful. "I thought not. Don't worry: besides saving the world and conquering hearts, you have little else to worry about."

Needless to say, Church did not feel at all enlightened. If anything, he was more confused than before. "Conquering hearts? What the hell does that mean?"

"That I shall not explain. However, I will tell you that you are doing a marvelous job so far: you've already made a lot of progress in the hearts of two, and made a mark on many more. And there are yet more to come! No doubt it will be most entertaining. But let's save that for later."

Church decided to not press the matter. He was pretty sure that he was imagining all of this anyway. "Whatever you say, suspicious voice in the sky."

"Anyway, let's talk about me, shall we? I am an angel, of sorts. Similar to your acquaintances Nanael and Hachiel, but not quite the same. Firstly, I am much, much older than they: it has been many eons since my creation."

"I didn't know angels even had ages."

Daedalus' voice echoed through the darkness. "A common misconception. Even angels have to be created at some point, right? Nanael and Hachiel are very young angels. Especially compared to the old breed like Delmore and myself."

"You say these things like I should know them. I don't even know who Delmore is, although I guess he's another angel."

Daedalus sighed. "Yes. Well, he used to be, at any rate. I wouldn't worry about your ignorance though: you'll know far more about him than you would like in the future."

"If you say so."

"Anyway, I myself am quite old. It is impossible to measure the exact length of time, so suffice to say that I was around long before the elves, and that even their long lives are but a sliver compared to my own. I was one of the first angels to be created, along with Delmore and the Seraph. Together, the three of us were his Archangels: we were more powerful and more advanced than all of the angels that followed us, and God trusted us as his most loyal vassals."

Church, having no escape from the surrounding darkness, merely made observations. "So then why aren't you in heaven? Or are you talking to me from there?"

Daedalus gave a short bark of laughter. "By the time I finished explaining my exact situation, you would have aged enough to die twice over. To give you the very, very condensed version: I am not in heaven, but in a limbo dimension of exile. I've been here for exactly 8102 years, 3 months, seventeen days, 9 hours, and 26 minutes. I could go into nanoseconds, but that would be pointless."

Church couldn't feel his extremities, but felt that he would have raised his eyebrows as Daedalus revealed this information. According to him, he had been in exile for nearly eight times longer than Alleyne had even been alive. Furthermore, this length of time was apparently nothing to Daedalus, who had supposedly been alive for uncountable centuries.

"So, why is an Archangel in exile?"

"Delmore and I were the lesser angels, compared to the Seraph. I had accepted that fate for what it was, but over the vast centuries, Delmore grew jealous. About eight millenia ago, his festering emotions got the better of him, and Delmore attempted to overthrow the heavenly hierarchy. Long story short, it didn't go over well. He was expelled to the Underworld, and I, being his equal, was accused of being his accomplice in his ambitious treachery. But since I wasn't accused of being the actual leader of the coup, I was exiled to this limbo place, instead of hell. Tragic, is it not?"

"I suppose. What happened to your buddy?"

Daedalus sighed. "Oh, he spent his eight thousand years in the Underworld plotting his revenge against the Seraph for thwarting his plans. He eventually gained enough power to exit the Underworld of his own accord, and he now resides in a young girl named Aldra, though what he plans on doing with the poor child is beyond me. I don't see any reason for him to do so. Perhaps he is feeding off of her? As a half-demon, she has quite a large sum of power of her own..."

"What about you? Why can't you exit this dimension like he did? And what about your plans? You were friends with this Seraph chick for thousands of years, yet she wrongly accused you. Don't you want revenge?"

The invisible ex-archangel's familiar chuckle was heard once again. "I'm afraid there isn't enough time to explain all of that right now: in fact, I just finished arranging the necessary components of returning you back to the land of the living. And one last thing; this took another 25 years of the energy I have stored while in exile, so try not to get into these kinds of messes again, alright? You're killing me, man. Oh wait! Say hello to Nyx for me, alright? Actually, she has no idea who I am, so that's not really nece-"

* * *

><p>Before Church could hear the final words of the unseen speaker and savior, he was swallowed by cold water. His feeling of weightlessness was gone, replaced by the weight of an entire lake of water and the burning agony of lungs devoid of air. He could feel himself being pushed upwards, as if by some invisible force, but he already felt like he was going to pass out again.<p>

_Some salvation! I'm going to drown all over again!_

Despite Church's pessimistic view of the current situation, he could see that he was rapidly nearing the surface of the lake. But he would have to make it to shore soon, because he was going to pass out any second. Fortunately, when he was thrust above the calm lake waters, he was only a few meters from the shore. He more or less floated/paddled his way over to the grassy bank. Once on the shore, he couldn't even bring himself to his knees.

He tried to breathe, but his lungs had yet to expunge the stifling water that filled them. Church practically puked out the water, even though its source was his lungs and not his stomach. He spewed the clear liquid out of him as fast as possible, in an effort to get any amount of oxygen he could into his flaming lungs. The excruciating pain in his chest was similar to what he felt when Echidna had fractured his sternum.

After several moments, Church finally managed to expel the fatal fluid from his lungs, and he got some small amount of air in them instead. Unfortunately, it still burned like all hell, even more so now that he was breathing. Despite his success in restoring functionality to his lungs, Church's vision was still darkening around the edges, and slowly covering all of his sight.

_Shit... I'm going to pass out again..._

And so it was. The inevitable loss of consciousness planted Church's body in the tall grass: a strange sight, especially to a certain young girl who passed by an hour later...

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><p><strong>Mostly just dialogue changes here. There was a good bit of info change too. Daedalus is much older, and I made it more clear why the situation between Vance and Aldra is so tense. I also clarified the situation before Aldra's reign, and how Maria died. What will the Vance trio do ifwhen they figure out Aldra killed their mom? **


	23. Royal Burdens

**You know how books are usually better than their movies, and likewise, manga is usually better than its anime? Well, I just got done reading the QB manga, and honestly, it kind of sucked. I mean, even if you cut out all of the fan service in the anime, it still had more detail and plot and whatnot than the manga did! That's completely backwards! Not to mention it ended with Leina knocking out Aldra with a Falcon Punch, which pissed me off to no small extent... meh, whatever. I mean, some parts of both aspects of QB were good, so I will incorporate both. Anyway, I have finals coming up at school soon, so after this, it might be a while until the next update.  
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**Also, this chapter holds the first major canon deviation. You know that whole thing about Irma wanting to assassinate Aldra for indirectly killing her brother? Yeah, screw that, and enjoy this new and improved take on the situation instead!  
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><p>"Her Majesty seems irritated."<p>

Irma merely nodded to her subordinate Fang member, who had made such an obvious observation. The two of them stood at one end of the nearly empty throne room, quietly watching Queen Aldra pace in front of her usual resting place. The usually calm and nonchalant ruler had been a nervous wreck lately, although no one was sure why. Even Irma, as Aldra's closest confidante, was not privy to such information. Needless to say, the reserved assassin was worried. Over the last six years in her service, Irma had only ever seen her Queen fret over two things: her missing sister, and the North Realm invasion.

Even thinking about the war made Irma wince. Her skin color was a constant reminder that she was an outsider in this land. Her people had been the aggressors in a terrible conflict that had robbed many citizens of both life and property. Because of this, Irma was subject to heavy racism from almost everyone on the Continent. Even her fellow Fang members eyed Irma with disdain when they thought she wasn't looking. The large scale conflict with the North Realm had instilled a lot of bitter feelings in the people, and since few North Realm natives set foot in the Queen's lands, the public satisfied their anger with hateful slander towards the one that they could find, the Queen's trust in her notwithstanding.

Normally, petty insults and racist slander would not have bothered a seemingly indifferent woman like Irma. But when she had first arrived on the Continent, she had not been so resilient, and it hurt to be hated for something she had not had a part in. Nowadays, Irma paid these comments little mind, but every time she heard them, a small part of her still squirmed uncomfortably.

However, Aldra had never acted in such a way to her. Despite the fact that Aldra herself had been the one to lead her forces against Irma's own people, she had never shown prejudice against her vassal. Irma had to admit that she harbored affectionate feelings towards her Queen. Not only had Aldra personally restored and compensated for the damage done to Irma's village, but she had also accepted Irma's wish to join her army to repay her for her kindness. Even then, she never expected to be her bodyguard... which had given the opportunity for Irma to watch Aldra grow in her reign firsthand.

Well, she didn't grow physically. Despite being twenty years of age, Aldra still looked like the fourteen year old girl she had been when Irma had first seen her. Few people knew why this phenomenon occurred, but Irma was well aware of Aldra's... 'situation'. Nevertheless, the young ruler had definitely grown in many other ways. She had outgrown her obsession with her sister, for one: sure, she still donated a good bit of the treasury to investigations and search efforts... but the quest for her lost sibling no longer consumed her thoughts entirely.

Since she had undergone that change, Aldra had become one of the greatest leaders the Continent had been graced with in decades. Although she never seemed to pay much attention to the needs of the people when they were brought to her attention, Aldra always dealt with them quickly, efficiently, and graciously. She handled political conflicts with ease, social unrest with understanding, and personal disputes with wisdom. It was hard to believe that just eight years ago, Aldra would have been content to let her kingdom rot. Back then, when Irma had gathered the courage to ask Aldra why her demeanor had changed so suddenly, the young ruler had merely stated that it was what her sister would have wished of her.

As far as Irma knew, the demon within Aldra had no qualms with this change, although Irma didn't really know much about the relationship between her Queen and such a creature. Perhaps it had been irritated? Surely demons didn't desire their hosts to be good people...

"You, out!"

The Fang assassin beside Irma flinched, startled by the sudden order from her Queen. Irma, on the other hand, showed no reaction at all. While she had been deep in her own thoughts, Irma never neglected her surroundings. It was very difficult to startle her.

The other Fang member bowed low and made sure her voice was clear and stable. "Yes, your Majesty!" Despite her calm speech, the young assassin departed hastily: the tone of Aldra's voice had sounded particularly irate. Now that Irma was alone with her Queen in the room, she maintained her silence. No doubt that Aldra had evicted the other occupant so that he could talk with her confidante alone. She would most likely speak first.

Their conversation started out with a matter of little importance. "I'm afraid I may have startled her."

Irma gave no physical response beyond speaking: not even a nod. "She'll be fine."

"Would you mind playing another game of chess with me later?"

"Of course not, your Majesty."

Her response garnered an amused look from the Queen. "You said that last time as well. However, I do believe you were quite irritated when I snatched away the victory you thought you had."

A very faint grin tugged at the corner of Irma's mouth. It was the most emotion she had shown all week. "I was very close to beating you, your Majesty. You were quite anxious near the end."

"Nonsense. I was personally trying to defeat you with my pawns alone. I needed a little more of a challenge than usual."

As insulting as that would have been to any self-respecting chess player, Irma wasn't offended in the slightest. While she had to maintain a professional relationship with Aldra when others were around, alone the two of them were more casual. Years of admiration for the young Queen had instilled a lot of positive feelings for the girl in Irma's heart. Now that Echidna was 'dead' to her, and her brother was dead for real, Aldra was the only person Irma really cared for. Anyone else was just an extra: a background character in Irma's quest to support her Queen in all things. With that goal in mind, the conversation was about to take a more serious turn.

"Your Majesty, if I may ask... what has been bothering you so much? You have been very restless of late, and it concerns me greatly."

The small trace of lightheartedness faded from Aldra's features. "It is nothing you need to concern yourself with. You know that nothing will get in the way of my duties Irma: your concern is unwarranted, though appreciated nevertheless."

"I am well aware that you can take care of yourself, your Majesty, but... if that is so, why have you not dealt with this issue already? It has been a week, and if anything, your demeanor has only worsened..."

Aldra's indifferent face was replaced with a frown. Seeing this distinctly negative reaction, Irma made a move to rectify the situation. Bowing low, she apologized. "Forgive me, your Majesty. I did not mean to overstep my boundaries."

Aldra waved her unbound arm dismissively. "There's no need for that, Irma. As I just said, we are close enough that your concern for me is appreciated... as I know that you are asking out of genuine worry, unlike most of the politicians who ask the same. If you truly wish to know, there are several things bothering me of late. I assume you have heard the results of my night terrors?"

"Yes. I... it sounds most painful. Please, if there is anything I can do to help, let me. Nothing would be too much of a burden for me if it could alleviate your suffering."

Aldra shook her head in response. "I'm afraid there is nothing you can do about my nightmares, Irma. I have confidence that I will get over them soon. Do not worry about it."

"But... your cries are so agonizing. What can I do but worry?"

Aldra returned to her throne, but she still looked anxious. "As I said, there is nothing to be done about my night terrors. However, there are other, more physical things that worry me as well."

It was obvious that Aldra no longer wished to talk of her troubles at night, so Irma dropped it completely, moving along the new lines of conversation Aldra had created.

"Such as? Surely you aren't worried about the upcoming Queen's Blade?"

"Hmm... perhaps I am, to a certain extent. There is an unusually high number of dangerous participants this time around. The Thundercloud General, for one. She is a formidable foe. And even though they are not registered as of right now, I have no doubt that a few other dangerous characters will participate. I would not be surprised to see the Mercenary of a Thousand Battles in the arena."

The mention of a certain green-haired mercenary made Irma seethe with anger, and Aldra took notice. "My apologies, Irma. I forgot that you do not like to speak of her."

"I am perfectly fine with speaking of her, so long as the talk includes her death."

"Is that so? Besides those two, there are numerous other individuals I am sure will register for the tournament. That fire-wielding brunette has been keeping a low profile ever since the incident in Bouris, but I am sure she will enter the Queen's Blade."

Irma answered with conviction bred by years of unshakable loyalty. "I have full confidence that you will defeat any who oppose you with ease, your Majesty. Besides, do you truly think that fire wielding oaf is a threat? She does not seem to be the most coordinated of individuals. The soldiers who fought her in Bouris stated that she was quite clumsy and awkward in movement."

Aldra replied in a factual manner. "Yes, she does seem as such. But I'm sure she will not make such amateurish mistakes when she is fighting for a conviction she believes in. Besides, she is a primal wizard, and it would not do to underestimate her."

Irma hated to admit it, but she did not really know anything about magic or mysticism. The significance of a 'primal' wizard compared to a normal one was unknown to her.

"Forgive me your Majesty, but my knowledge in magical areas is limited. What makes a primal wizard so dangerous?"

"It means that she can manipulate an element without the assistance of boosters or other magical devices. That living staff she wields? It is a booster, but the wizard herself does not need it. She is merely unaware of her own abilities: she is convinced that her power is supplied by that hellish creature, though it is in fact leeching off of her. It's a shame, but she is probably to attached to it to separate herself willingly."

Irma stored this information in the back of her mind, in case it could be used later. There was no such thing as too much info. "Is the Thundercloud General a primal wizard as well?"

Aldra clutched the side of her head, but Irma couldn't tell if it was due to pain, or something else. Either way, Aldra was making an expression of discomfort. Perhaps she merely had a headache. "No. The General may seem like a skilled spell caster, but she requires a booster to manifest her powers. Without her sword, her ability to channel lightning would be disabled. She is not a primal wizard, but more of a... mage, if you will. Mages require tomes in order to cast spells, just as warriors like her require a booster to use their own abilities. In any case, I think that is enough of a lesson today."

"Indeed, your Majesty. May I ask... you are not truly afraid of being defeated, are you?"

A few moments of silence led up to Aldra's answer. "In one way I am, and in another, I am not. I am not afraid of harm coming to myself. I can weather whatever power that is brought against me. But losing the tournament is another matter. I have seen all of the contestants for this year's tournament, and I do not like what I see. As potential rulers... I cannot see any of them as being fit for the throne."

"None of them? One or two seemed to have somewhat decent goals. Not that any of them could compare to you, of course."

There was another dismissive wave from the snow-haired Queen. "Please, Irma, there's no need for flattery like that here: save it for the politicians. Anyway, decent is not good enough. The situation in the land right now is very volatile -these are the other things that are bothering me- and I doubt that any of the potential rulers we have available would be able to deal with it."

"I fail to see the volatility you speak of, your Majesty. The people are quite content with your rule..."

"Social unrest is not what I speak of. The situation in question has to do with our potential enemies, Vance and the Witch. Both have been quiet for so long... until recently. We have had no conflict with either power in years, but now that this year's Queen's Blade Tournament is nearing, we have all three Vance daughters participating, and the Witch's servants are undoubtedly on the move. Clearly, our days of peace are coming to a close. Civil turmoil would ensue if either of those parties were victorious over me in the tournament. Besides, what are our other options? Even assuming that the people I have predicted will indeed participate, that leaves us with a carefree elven mercenary, a socially inept wizard, a delusional bandit, and other individuals of less than solid caliber. With Vance and the Witch on one hand, and those alternatives on the other, I cannot afford to lose this tournament, for any reason."

It was no wonder Aldra seemed so irritated. She had a lot to deal with outside of her personal matters, which were already a burden enough as it is. "Your Majesty... Aldra. May I ask... what does 'he' think about your stance on this? If that is alright..."

Aldra seemed reluctant to speak on such a matter, but she did anyway. If there was anyone she didn't mind telling, it was Irma. "Delmore is content with any situation as long as I am happy."

"And so long as you stay as his host..."

This elicited a glare from the Twilight Queen, though it wasn't specifically directed at Irma. The assassin's words were simply a bitter reminder of her contract with a demon of great power.

"Yes... I think we are quite done here. If he asks, tell Jauffre that I'll be... elsewhere. And don't forget that game you promised."

Irma bowed as Aldra made her way out of the throne room. "Of course, your Majesty." As the Queen left her presence, Irma did her best to suppress her concern for the woman, and instead focus on locating Jauffre, the annoying adviser...

* * *

><p>Church was lying flat on his back, and he could feel a strange bouncing sensation in the darkness, accompanied by the clacking of the hooves of some sort of load beast. Well, at least that was what he thought he heard. His mind was reeling from the unexpected awakening, so Church's perception may have been a little off.<p>

Church was aware that he was regaining consciousness, but he kept his eyes shut for many minutes, in an attempt to counter the aches in his skull. When he finally felt somewhat better, Church cracked open his eyelids, eager to get his bearings. But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was gray. At first, this confounded the man, but after a few moments of critical thought, as well as a brush of his fingers, Church discovered that the gray was some sort of tarp. Curious, Church sat up, pushing against the covering so that he could get a look at the outside.

At first, he was blinded by sunlight. Church squinted his eyes in an effort to block some of the harmful rays, but the painful light still stabbed into his adjusting eyes. Completely disoriented, the Legion Commando swung his arm around to grab hold of something to steady himself. However, whatever he laid his hands on pulled away from Church's grasping fingers with an ear-splitting shriek. Having lost his balance because of that, Church tumbled backwards into whatever land-borne vessel that carried him.

As he sat up, Church's face was met with an empty bucket, sent painfully into his face from the arm of an unknown thrower. "I can't believe I rescued a bad man like you!"

Rubbing the stars out of his eyes, Church looked towards the voice that accosted him. Shying away from him, on the ground, instead of in the wagon Church found himself in, was a young girl who was no more than twelve or thirteen. She was dressed in peasant clothing, and had short, shoulder length blue hair like Nanael's, although it was much darker than the asymmetrical angel's.

"I'm sorry little girl. Look, I didn't mean to grab you like that, I was just a little confused..."

The girl looked at Church suspiciously, but within moments she was walking back towards the cart that held him. "Oh. I'm sorry too: I didn't mean to call you a bad man, or hit you in the face with a bucket. You just scared me." She stuck out her hand to shake his. "My name is Mirim! You've been sleeping for a long time."

Church shook the girl's hand while looking around for an adult. Now that he had a chance to get his bearings, he realized that he and this girl Mirim were alone on a country road. The idea of such a young girl traveling alone out here was strange. "My name's Church. Are you alone out here? Where are your parents?"

Little Mirim climbed back into the front seat of the cart and urged the horses that pulled it onward. "I'm old enough to do this errand alone, so Mom and Dad aren't here with me."

"And how old are you, exactly?"

"Thirteen! Now I'm finally old enough to do stuff like this alone: I'm glad I can help my family like this. Mom and Dad don't have to work as hard now, which makes me happy."

Church examined the load of bartering materials that also occupied his transport. It was mostly apples, corn, and other produce. "But isn't the road a little dangerous for such a young girl to travel alone? What if you run into bandits or something?"

"Well... bandits don't come around this road very much. Besides, fruit and vegetables and stuff aren't very valuable, so they would probably leave me alone. It's also only an hour or two to get to the town from my family's farm, so nothing should happen in such a short time, right?"

Church still wasn't comfortable with the idea of this girl being alone out here, but inwardly admitted that she had some good points, and decided to move on. "Where exactly did you find me? And where is this town we're going to?"

The girl that had rescued him pondered the answer to Church's question for a moment. "Well, the road near the family farm goes close to the lake around Vance castle, and then leads away from it towards Alabaster Town. I found you on the shore of the lake. I thought you were dead at first, but Mom taught me how to check for a pulse, so I found out that you weren't. I thought I should take you to Alabaster Town, so I put you in the back of the cart and threw a cover over you, so you wouldn't get sunburned. You're very heavy mister! Did you know that?"

"I'm sure I am, compared to a girl like you. Thank you for rescuing me. Was there anyone else nearby when you found me?"

"Like who?"

Church refrained from using names, since this stranger wouldn't know his friends by name anyway. "A red-headed maid? A girl wearing way too much pink? Uh... angels?"

The young girl looked at Church with confusion. "Um... that's a lot of weird people to be looking for. Maybe you were dreaming, mister?"

"No... that's alright, it was a long-shot at best. Anyway... judging by all of this produce, I'm guessing that you're heading to the market?"

"Yes sir! The people at Alabaster Town are pretty familiar with us, so we get good deals for our excess crops there. We're about an hour away right now, if you were wondering."

Church relaxed back into the cart, grateful for his fortune in being found by Mirim. "You're a very responsible girl. You must be a great help on the farm."

Mirim looked a little downcast as she answered. "Actually... I'm the one doing this because I'm really clumsy. I always mess stuff up when I try to help at home, so it's my job to do this kind of thing. This is all I can do right... so I'm not really useful at all..."

"Come on, that's not true. After all, you saved my life. Or at least saved me from a lot of suffering. And besides, this job you're doing is actually very important. This is how your family gets all of their money right? If you didn't do this, you guys would be in a lot of trouble! In fact, this might be the most important job of them all! Also, being clumsy doesn't mean you aren't responsible. I'm sure if you were just a little more careful, you could help out a lot. Low self-esteem is actually even worse than being a klutz, so have a little faith in yourself."

The words of encouragement brought a smile to Mirim's face. "Wow, you're a really nice guy! Do you really think all of that stuff about me?"

"Sure I do. I bet you'll be the biggest helping hand your parents have for years to come."

"Oh, I don't know... we're gonna be moving soon, so we might not even have a farm in a few years."

Since Church had nothing to accomplish during his trip to Alabaster Town, he was more than happy to participate in this conversation. "Really? Where to? And why?"

"Mom and Dad said they think it would be better to live in the Queen's Lands instead of here. So they want to live closer to Gainos. They say Count Vance has been enforcing a lot of unfair taxes lately. I don't really think that's enough of a problem to move away, but... I'm sure Mom and Dad know what they're talking about."

"I see. Well, since we have the better part of an hour to talk, why not tell me more about yourself?"

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><p><strong>Bleh, short chapter! I wanted to include another 3-4000 words, but I'm getting swamped by END OF YEAR FINALS OF DOOM. So, Give me about a week or two to conquer the EOYFODs, and then I'll get back to you with a chapter that includes bar fights, soldiers, wanton destruction, jailbreak, and Nyx. What more could you ask for?<br>**

**P.S. Mirim is not going to be a major or even minor character. This was a cameo appearance only. If you're wondering why she is thirteen instead of as old as she is in Rebellion, it's because I stretched the time between QB and Rebellion for... "sequel" purposes. Anyway, after I'm done with END OF YEAR FINALS OF DOOM, I'll get back to you guys. So for now, be patient. Until roughly... two weeks from now, give or take.**


	24. Here Comes a New Challenger!

**A full month for an update is an atrocity isn't it? I know I said I had exams and all, but even then, a full month?!**

**So anyway, back to our poor neglected story here: I finally get the chance to introduce more QB characters! Well, one at least. Either way, I always feel like I'm making more progress when another character comes to the field.**

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><p>"I really wish I could do more than just thank you for the ride, Mirim."<p>

Mirim, Church's young and cheerful rescuer, shrugged as she proceeded to gather the first bushel of apples that she was supposed to sell. The two of them had literally just arrived in Alabaster Town about ten minutes ago. The place was not much to look at: it's buildings were made of stone and terracotta tile rooftops, the roads were paved cobblestone, and there was a rather large sycamore tree in the center of the town that was likely it's only main attraction. Other than that, there was a stone wall surrounding the settlement, though it was only about fifteen feet high, and probably nowhere near as thick. Even the gate Mirim and Church had come through would be a paltry defense against any real attack, being the half-rotten piece of wood that it was.

All of this aside, this had been the duo's destination, and Mirim graciously accepted Church's good intentions. "That's alright! You did more than enough by keeping me company on the way here."

Now that her wagon was stationed on the outskirts of the town, Church couldn't help but wonder how far away the market area was. "Are you sure you don't want some help getting all of that stuff to the market? I'd be happy to help you. Or why not just take the wagon up to the market itself?"

Mirim gave him one of her carefree smiles. "Well, carrying all this stuff will make me stronger for sure: and the stronger I am, the more I can help my family! So it's worth the effort. Thank you for asking though."

"See? I told you that you were responsible. You must've been crazy thinking that you weren't!"

Church's praise elicited a brief giggle from the girl. "You really only have nice things to say huh? I bet you have girls chasing after you all the time!"

That comment brought back the memories of all the times Church had been verbally or physically attacked by the women he knew. In Airi's case, it was often both, though she was sweet to him on occasion. "Yeah… you have no idea..."

At that moment, Church's stomach let out a loud grumble. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. Mirim looked completely appalled at the sound, as though it's mere existence was an affront to her own.

"Oh, you must be starving! Especially since you were on the shoreline for who knows how long! Here, take some of the apples!"

Church shook his head. "I couldn't do that Mirim! Just point me to somewhere that I can get some food, and I'll work from there."

Mirim furrowed her brow in thought for a moment. "Hmm… oh! There's a tavern nearby! Of course, I'm not allowed to go in there, but I still know where it is! If you walk with me to the market, I can point it out along the way."

Church nodded in agreement. "Alright, but if I'm coming with you, you have to at least let me carry one basket. I'd feel bad if I didn't."

* * *

><p>Roughly a mile from the town outskirts, a small encampment of Vance soldiers had been erected. While the encampment was built with five soldiers in mind, only two were present there, both huddled around a pile of wood that would not be transformed into a campfire until later that night.<p>

Both seated soldiers, young privates barely into their twenties, were on edge. This probably had something to do with the dangerous individual that was tied to a post within one of the tents. Fortunately, said prisoner was unconscious, but the man had already incapacitated or killed the other seven soldiers that used to be part of this unit. Only sheer luck had let the five survivors capture the bugger.

Needless to say, both troopers had their full armor on, and both held their spears with caution. They even both had their eyes trained on the tent flap that separated them from their captive. They weren't going to take any chances.

Still, the quietness of the afternoon did plant the seeds of boredom, so conversation was not far off. "I can't believe Walden is off partying at the tavern while we have to guard this psycho Barb."

A sarcastic answer came all to quickly. "Careful. It's _Lieutenant_ Walden now. That asshole would demote you for sure if he heard you say anything even remotely negative about him."

"Heh, yeah. So Lieutenant Byron gets killed by this Dark freak, and Walden just assumes his place? That's crazy. That loathsome fool never got promoted beyond Corporal for a reason!"

"Well, he still has more experience than any of the rest of us, so he gets to fill the position. I wouldn't mind filing a complaint with the higher-ups later though. And maybe a week's leave too."

Anyone from that unit who had survived deserved some R & R, for sure.

"Oh yeah, definitely! I mean, hunting Barbs is one thing, but when they're pumped up monsters? I didn't sign up to watch soldiers get slaughtered! That freak was a nightmare! And how come we have to stay and watch him? Why did Lana and Roland get to go with Walden and not us?"

As the young soldier finished complaining, the end of his sentence was punctuated with a loud snap, originating from the captive tent.

"Oh shit, tell me that wasn't what I think it was..."

The two soldiers scampered to their feet and pointed their spears at the tent that concealed what was supposed to be a captive North Realm brute. Not even a second later, a hulking muscular frame pushed through the light canvas. He was silhouetted by the sunlight reflecting off of the white tent, but the two terrified soldiers already knew what this Northern barbarian looked like.

A long moment of silence ensued as the two soldiers stood paralyzed with fear, and the foreign adversary before them took in his surroundings. Finally, the man aimed his gaze towards the troops, who glanced at each other, coming to a mutual agreement in but a second. Both men were quickly sprinting away from the dark-skinned brawler and towards Alabaster Town.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!"

"Hell yeah, they don't pay me enough for this kind of shit! I'm out!"

Unfortunately for them, being a fighter did not make this North Realm native a fool. He was very angry at the moment, and he wanted to take his vengeance on those who had captured him. With that in mind, the two men who had been keeping him captive ran even faster, because it did not take them long to realize the barbarian was following them.

* * *

><p>Church stood before the tavern Mirim had directed him to. He had already said goodbye to the girl and parted ways with her, and now his only focus was to get his hands on some food.<p>

Still, as he reached for the door handle, Church couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. He had once promised Mission that he would never go into a drinking establishment, and even though Church had no intention of consuming anything alcoholic in here, he was still technically breaking his promise to his little sister.

And of course that little twerp would know, somehow. She always knew, and wherever Daedalus had kept her and his squad safe, she would know. The moment he saw her again, he'd never hear the end of it.

Pushing the wooden door to the building open, Church had a hard time readjusting his eyes to the dimly lit interior, which was a huge contrast to the sun outside. But in order to avoid looking like a buffoon, Church found a chair ASAP, instead of standing right in front of the door blinking and waving his arms around.

Once seated, he took the time to adjust by planting his gaze on the empty chair opposite of him. Fortunately, the round table he found himself in was devoid of other patrons. When his vision had finally adjusted to the lighting, Church took a moment to examine the tavern itself.

It was a relatively clean place, considering that it was most likely frequented by ruffians and drunkards, but it wasn't exactly pristine. There were still quite a few beer stains on some of the tables, and a good bit of the furniture could stand to be replaced. Strategically placed candles on the walls gave just enough light to be comfortable in.

What caught Church's attention more than the place itself were the people within it. There were a few thuggish looking drinkers, naturally. Unfortunately, they reminded Church of the men he had run into back when he first encountered Airi and Melona.

Besides that, there were a few commonly dressed people who were most likely just villagers. What really caught Church's eye was a table a few yards away that seated three soldiers adorned in the same uniform that the guards back at Vance castle did.

One of them looked semi-drunk, but the other two soldiers did nothing about it, which led Church to believe that the somewhat tipsy trooper was the leader.

Initially, Church was a little worried about the potentially hostile soldiers, but it didn't take long for him to realize that it was very unlikely he was a wanted man. Even though he had been present at the fiasco in the castle, he had been a minor focus. More than likely, the appearance of angels had taken more attention than him.

Deciding that the Vance troops weren't worth his time, Church turned his attention elsewhere. What he spotted next was far more appealing than a bunch of soldiers anyway.

Near the other end of the establishment, currently taking the orders of some other customers was a rather… voluptuous waitress. In fact, if her breasts had been any larger, they probably would have actually been unattractive in Church's opinion. Luckily, they weren't quite that size. If anything, they were about the largest they could be while still being attractive in his eyes.

Church berated himself for thinking on such terms. He always felt a little guilty when the first thing he noticed about a girl was her body, but it was difficult to do otherwise, especially in this world. Still, he tried to focus on other, less physical details instead. The second most noticeable thing about the girl was her demeanor. She seemed incredibly nervous to be doing something as simple as taking an order. In fact, she almost seemed to be hiding behind her long brown hair, which hid half of the girl's face. That was a shame, because despite the difficulty of telling at this distance, she seemed rather pretty.

Of course, being a waitress and hiding were contradictory, so this girl had definitely chosen the wrong line of work. Still, she managed to do her job, as far as Church could tell, and he was soon distracted himself by a much less attractive waitress coming to take his order.

He eventually settled for a meat pie and some type of juice, since the other items on the menu had names Church couldn't understand. Content that he was at least going to get his hands on some sustenance, Church filled the wait time with important thoughts, namely one in particular: how the hell was he going to pay for this?

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you let them get away, Hachi! Come on, really!?"<p>

Deep in the woods near Vance castle, two angels bickered over their latest mishap as they tried to extract the water out of their soaked wings.

"What makes you think I'd be strong enough to control both of them? You're the fighter Nanael, not me!"

Nanael, who had been in the vicinity of the massive splash caused by the debris that crashed into the lake, irritably squeezed the water out of her defective wing, albeit with a gentle touch.

"Only the maid was conscious, and she was barely standing! How hard could it be to keep them in line?!"

Hachiel scowled as she recalled the incident. When the wall had been destroyed at Vance castle, she had been quick to evacuate the area with her two charges. Nanael had been caught in the collateral of the destruction, so Hachiel had returned to the mainland without her in tow, confident that Nanael would catch up with her later.

Upon landing in the outskirts of a forest a safe distance away from the castle, Airi had been quick to pull Hachiel towards her and absorb the life force she needed to restore her strength. Of course, the wraith had needed to gather a lot of life force very quickly, so she could grab Melona and escape from who was both her rescuer and captor. Unfortunately for Hachiel, the quickest method for absorbing the life force of another person was through the mouth, so the pinkette angel had been caught in a forced kiss from Airi. Even worse was the fact that Hachiel could not truly say that she hadn't enjoyed the experience to some extent. To have been defiled by a demon was a terrible thing, but the redhead's lips had felt rather nice against her own...

Both flustered at her own thoughts and irate over Nanael's accusations, Hachiel was not in a good mood at the moment. She was not quite as soaked as Nanael but still a little damp, and just as irritated as her fellow angel, which was a very rare occurrence.

"The Swamp Witch's servants are creatures of unnatural strength! Do you really think I could have dealt with Airi so easily?! She is much stronger than me!"

Nanael rolled her eyes. "Again, she was barely standing! You could have at least _tried_ to do something useful! I mean, I fought a freaking general, all you did was rescue the bad guys!"

Silence quickly fell on the two friends: Hachiel looked hurt or angry… likely both. But it didn't take long for Nanael to realize the fault in her attitude. With anyone else, she wouldn't have really cared… but Hachiel was her best friend, and she wasn't exactly being fair to her.

"Hachi, I'm sorry… It's just… the more I screw up, the more doomed I feel. The Seraph already thinks the Underworld is all I deserve. All I'm doing when I mess up is convincing her. I know I shouldn't take it out on you..."

Hachiel sighed, but she offered her friend a reassuring smile. It was a rare day indeed when Nanael apologized, so it significantly improved Hachiel's mood. "_We _messed up Nanael. I won't let you take the blame alone. And I won't let you go to the Underworld, I promise. Now, do you need some help with the other wing or not?"

"Yeah... thanks Hachi. Really."

* * *

><p>Surprisingly, the meat pie Church consumed was actually quite delicious. He had never eaten one before, but the pie was filled with chicken, which was his favorite type meat. He had managed to devour the whole thing in a matter of minutes, and he temporarily forgot about his payment troubles.<p>

Church was about to go to work on his beverage as well, when a feminine cry of surprise filled his ears. He quickly cast his gaze towards the disturbance, and he saw the same well-endowed waitress he had noticed earlier, with the major difference being a Vance soldier's grip on her arm. Not surprisingly, it was the soldier Church had guessed to be the leader.

"C'mon babe, what you're doing here is such a waste of those beautiful assets! I'll pay ya much better to use them properly."

The girl tried to break the man's grip on her arm, but even in his drunkenness, it was strong. "S-sir, please… I-I don't…"

Displeased with her hesitancy, the soldier tugged down on the girl, forcing her to drop the platter she carried and use her arm on the table to stop herself from landing in the offender's lap.

"Not that kind of girl huh? How 'bout a lap dance instead? Or you could always use your mouth. I'm game for that!"

The two soldiers at the table with this man had obvious looks of disapproval on their faces, though the female soldier's was more disgusted than anything else. But regardless of their thoughts, they still said nothing, further supporting Church's theory of who the leader was.

"N-no! Please, l-let go!"

Further angered by her rejection, the molesting sod was about to say something else, only to be interrupted by a firm grip on his shoulder. The man turned to look up at Church's face, which was stern with anger.

"The hell do you want? This slut is mine, go find your own."

The outright disrespect for this woman served only to make Church even more furious than he already was. "It's clear at this point that she has no interest in worthless shit like you. So let her go, or else."

The drunken soldier gave Church an arrogant look. "Or else what? You gonna save her, kid? Get outta here, before I throw your ass in a cell!"

Church grabbed onto the man's wrist, which held onto the girl he was trying to help. With the weak spot in his grasp, Church gave a strong wrench to the side, forcing the man to release the woman as he yelped in pain. The injured officer rose to his feet immediately, knocking his chair over and garnering the attention of several nearby patrons.

"You stupid whelp! I'mma officer! Who do ya think you are?!"

Church could already foresee a bar fight if he didn't settle this quickly. So instead of allowing the drunken moron to continue his rant, Church ended the problem by clocking the man in the face. Thank goodness his helmet wasn't on.

Considering that the 'officer' was already tipsy, it was no surprise that he was immediately rendered unconscious by the blow, and neither was it surprising when the man fell back onto the table he had been sitting at, unfortunately breaking the rotting thing with his weight.

The whole tavern fell silent at the sight of it. Who was this crazy bastard who had been dumb enough to assault one of Vance's soldiers? Seeing the looks of astonishment on the crowd's faces gave Church a vague idea of what he had done. Looking to the other two soldiers, who had yet to say anything, he voiced his concern.

"…I assume this means I'm about to have trouble with you guys?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation before one of the two answered, but when the female soldier did, Church was quite relieved. "We didn't see anything. But I'd get out of here fast if I were you. One of the customers just slipped out rather quietly: probably went to alert some other guards in hopes of a reward."

The second trooper cut in before Church could thank them. "But you probably won't make it far with how strangely you're dressed. Do yourself a favor and take this bozo's uniform. He doesn't deserve it anyway. 'Bout time someone whacked him…"

Church couldn't believe his good fortune: two soldiers who agreed with assaulting their superior officer? How awesome was that? But although he knew time was of the essence, Church still decided to check on the waitress that had been harassed. He turned to face her, and was met with the incredibly cute sight of her blushing while attempting to hide her forest green eyes behind long bangs. The sheer adorableness made his heart flutter.

"Are you alright, Miss? You seem a little shaken."

The woman tried to look everywhere but at Church as she answered. "I-I-I'm fine…T-thank you."

Knowing that was all he had time for, and content that the girl was unharmed physically, Church proceeded to sling the officer he had rendered unconscious over his shoulder. He'd have to find somewhere a little more secluded in order to strip him of his armor.

Making his way for the door, Church turned to wave a final goodbye to his audience, putting a little ridiculous flair into his words for the heck of it. "Farewell common folk! My work here is done, and now I bid you adieu! You can put the meal on my tab."

The crowd was silent as they watched the strange, possibly downright crazy man exit the building. Finally, one of the patrons asked the collective question in the room.

"What's a tab?"

* * *

><p>"You know, after all of this, I'm not surprised that Master is so angry with you all the time, Melona. Your incompetence really is astounding. Only Mencae could honestly do any worse."<p>

Far away from Vance castle, unwittingly on a road far from their third companion, two very bitter servants of the Swamp Witch attempted to mend their damaged pride by insulting one another.

"Yeah, well maybe if my backup hadn't decided to slice me in half, I would've won!"

Airi rolled her eyes, the usually shimmering green dulled by anger and regret at once again losing track of Church.

"Oh please. She was beating you long before I intervened. Besides, you're the idiot who decided to take her head on! Did the idea of being stealthy even dawn on you at all?"

Melona glared angrily back at her fellow Underworld creature. However, her anger was caused more by the idea that she had been temporarily captured by those damned angels, which a severe insult to her pride. "There's no need to get all pissed at me just because you lost your stupid boyfriend again, Airi!"

That comment almost earned a fist the face, and even though it wouldn't have harmed Melona physically, the fact that Airi was that close to losing her cool was very unusual. It was actually quite surprising that the wraith hadn't snapped already.

However, the bitter and furious aura emanating from Airi was enough to let Melona know her comment probably wasn't the best choice. She wasn't scared of Airi by any means, but Melona wasn't eager to fight with her.

"Look Airi, it's not like I'm not worried about him, but what are we supposed to do? Search the whole damned territory for him? He could be anywhere around the castle! Or near the bottom of it…"

"Don't say that! Even if it's true that he could be anywhere… at least don't say that! He definitely survived that fall, I know it!"

Melona scratched the back of her head. She was actually feeling pretty strange herself. This was the first time she had ever felt genuinely worried about another person. Even when Airi and Menace were in danger, Melona usually found it more amusing than worrisome. The fact that she was actually concerned for Church's well-being… was she getting soft?

"Airi, even if he's out there, I don't think the Witch is going to give us another month to snoop around for someone she doesn't even know about. She'll start asking questions. That's the last thing we, uh, you, want. Right?"

Airi moaned in depression and stared up at the sky. "Ugh… right… then what are you suggesting?"

"I didn't really have a suggestion… but, uh… I mean, Church isn't a complete idiot, right? He's gotta be smart enough to head for a village or something. You take a look around, find the nearest town, and we'll head there. That shouldn't take long. Not long enough for our Overseer to get suspicious anyway. But if he's not there…"

Airi folded her arms, her general optimism quickly failing. "We won't have time to look anywhere else…"

"Right… well then what are you waiting for?! The sooner you get started, the better chance you have!"

Airi offered a peculiar glance to her friend. "You sure are putting a lot of effort into making sure you say _you_ instead of _we_."

Melona crossed her arms. "I'm not worried, if that's what you're thinking. I mean, he's your boyfriend, why should I care?"

Airi made no comment, but it was clearly written on her face that she knew exactly how Melona felt about this situation. Still, the mention of Church being her boyfriend flustered her greatly. "H-he's not my boyfriend Melona..."

"Well good for him: who would want a girlfriend that cheats on you behind your back and makes out with angels?"

"I-I wasn't making out with her! I needed spiritual energy to get us out of there! B-besides, there was no tongue involved whatsoever! How the hell did you even know I did that?!"

Melona smirked at her. "Because just now, you admitted that you did."

Airi jabbed a finger at Melona's face. "You will never tell _anyone _about this! Especially not Church!"

"Sure, sure... but has there ever been a time when tongue _was _involved?"

"I'm not answering that."

"So that's a yes."

Airi glared at her supernatural companion, unwilling to say anything further, lest she make the situation any worse. She instead ascended into the sky, now even more eager to find Church: at least when he was around, Melona would focus some of her merciless teasing on him.

* * *

><p>Church confidently strode out of an inconspicuous alley, now clothed in the full outfit of a Vance soldier. Fortunately, the outfit managed to fit comfortably over his regular clothes. Not that his jeans were of any importance, but he was very fond of his jacket.<p>

As he exited out of the alley in which he had made his impromptu identity switch, Church spotted two soldiers jogging towards the tavern. Obviously, a minor bar fight, even if it did include a fellow soldier, was not enough of a disturbance to dispatch more soldiers: or more urgent soldiers, for that matter.

Not that Church was complaining. He was just glad that all of this armor had fit him so well. In fact, with a bit of modification for maximum comfort, Church could adopt the boots and gloves and whatnot. After all, he had been trekking through the world in his tennis shoes for quite a while now, and they weren't in the best shape.

All he had to do now was get out of town while making it look like he was patrolling or something. Of course, it would probably be wise to look around for signs of his friends first (which now included Nanael and Hachiel to some extent). Unfortunately, his luck concerning his female companions always seemed to include being separated from them.

Church figured he could at least look around the town. After all, there was no guarantee that his friends _weren't _here. What harm could a quick once-over do?

With that objective in mind, Church began his foray through the town, doing his best to look like a busy soldier whenever other troopers were around. He spent the better part of an hour snooping around, but there was no sign of anyone he wanted to see.

Somewhat weary from his continuous search, Church decided to take a rest against the large sycamore tree that grew near the center of the town. Unfortunately, the shade of the tree prevented Church from noticing when another shadow cast itself over him.

"I have never failed to eliminate the enemies that I have encountered Lieutenant."

Church looked up into the dark tan face of a stranger. The first thing his attention was drawn to was a gruesome scar that traveled from the man's right temple to this left cheek in a diagonal line. After that was quite the manly stubble, and coal black eyes that burned with hatred.

Beyond that was his garb, which reminded Church of a Viking… or maybe the poster boy for Skyrim. Either way, the guy looked brutal, and more importantly, he didn't look happy. Specifically with Church. Actually, those red stains probably weren't wine…

Church tried to muster his most gruff soldierly voice. "Is there a problem sir?"

Church couldn't help but notice the natural gruffness of this brute's voice compared to his own fake tone. "For you, yes."

The sentence was punctuated by a fist as solid as a rock flying towards Church's face. He just barely managed to dodge it in time, giving him the perfect chance to witness the damage the punch wrought on the tree Church had previously used as a resting place. Needless to say, Church was not pleased with this turn of events.

_You have got to be kidding me..._

* * *

><p><strong>Hooray for the fight scene that's not in this chapter! And the actual use of our… voluptuous waitress' name.<br>**

**So, I think this is the first chapter that I've updated with an extra scene instead of just dialogue changes and whatnot. Sure, it was just a small flashback scene that included poor Hachiel being molested, but hey, with some imagination, I think we can all find that idea enjoyable.**


	25. Forgotten Grudges

**In hindsight, this was by far one of my least favorite chapters. I'm going to try and improve it now, but... we'll see.**

* * *

><p>"Can't we just talk about this, sir? Why are you attacking me anyway?!"<p>

Church tried to reason with the dark-skinned brute that was swinging his solid fists at Church's fragile skull. Even with a steel helmet upon it, Church's head felt incredibly vulnerable.

"I always finish my fights. No exceptions."

Church hid behind the nearby tree on the center of the village, putting it between him and his adversary.

"Sir, I think you have me confused with someone else-!"

A scream from some villager off to the side somewhere pierced the air. "Guards! There's a fight near the village tree! Guards!"

Church took notice of this outburst while carefully moving from side to side to keep the tree between himself and the berserk brawler.

"Look dude, that lady just went to call the guards: why don't we just get ahead of the game and split now? You didn't see me, I didn't see you. Right?"

A somber frown crossed the man's face, made all the more disturbing the scar that intersected it. "I've killed plenty of your comrades already, and soldiers like you are supposed to be a cut above city guards. I already killed the greenhorns you left to guard me: once I kill you, I'll be one step closer to achieving three hundred and fifty.

Such a declaration of past killings probably would have astounded most people, but Church himself had killed roughly that many… with an extra two hundred or so. Especially if you counted all of those mutants he had dispatched during NOVA.

But with this, Church found a way to distract the brute until the guards arrived, and hopefully saved his sorry ass.

"Pfft, only that many? I have at least seven hundred. Who are you to talk about greenhorns?"

Unfortunately, the plan backfired immediately. "You? You're barely twenty."

"Twenty-one, I'll have you know!"

"Too young to have surpassed me. Liars will be killed in significantly more gruesome ways than others."

_Great job Church, that really helped the situation!_

Church left his hiding place behind the tree, and raised his fists in preparation for a fight. "Alright, I can only play with you for a few minutes."

"You're funny… I hate people with a sense of humor."

Church continued to repeat to himself how much of a bad idea this was, but he rushed the burly man before him anyway.

_I'll do a Shoryuken like Ryu from Street Fighter. That always works!_

Unfortunately, Church's fist was caught in mid-uppercut, and he was countered with a straight punch to the chest. The stone solid blow creased Church's cuirass and sent him flying backwards into the village tree, knocking the wind out of him.

"H-holy shit! Did… whew, give me a minute… did that even hurt your hand?!"

"Just a little. Not as much as it hurt you."

_Ugh… that's true. Why didn't I take that soldier's sword?_

Church slowly rose to his feet, leaning on the tree for support. "Crap, you're a freakin' monster dude. Five minute break?"

Church's request was answered by another attack, forcing him to dodge. "No? I didn't think so."

* * *

><p>Aldra's nightmares were especially potent today. Since she had not gotten much sleep the night before, or even the night before that, Aldra had aimed to take a nap that afternoon. She was regretting this decision now though, even in her sleep. Her mind was plagued with horrors and hellish images of dark places.<p>

_Delmore, stop this! I do not want to endure this again!_

Aldra knew that Delmore was the cause of her nightmares, but she had been unable to find out why the demon was assaulting her in this way.

_Oh, but beloved, you need to see this. You need to know this, dear Aldra. Look closely at what I'm showing you._

Delmore employed the usual sickening sweet tone of voice he used when speaking to Aldra, but it did nothing to soothe her.

_I don't want to see this, and not in this form. Take it away from me._

_But beloved Aldra-_

_Now!_

The nightmare slowly faded out of Aldra's mind, but by now, she was already awake. She didn't know if she had screamed in her sleep again, but there was no doubt that Irma would ask about it later if she had.

The Twilight Queen was unfazed by most troubles. There were few things with the power to terrify her, but they still existed. This nightmare contained many things that scared her, but Delmore refused to let her bury it, for reasons she did not know.

All she knew was that her visions of darkness incarnate were the most terrible things she had ever experienced. Aldra knew there was no chance of her returning to sleep, so she rose from her king sized bed and began to pace around her chambers.

"Never a moment of rest for the weary, I suppose..."

* * *

><p>"I know a soldier who is going to be very made about all of this broken armor! Ow! Watch it!"<p>

By now, most of Church's borrowed uniform was dented and dinged in several places. The helmet was crumpled, the cuirass was split, and more importantly, Church's body was terribly battered and bruised under all of that armor.

A few more minutes of this battle would see Church pulped under his metal shell. Fortunately, salvation was not far off, in the form of the town guard.

"Freeze! In the name of Count Vance, you are under arrest!"

Church and his enemy looked around them and saw that several soldiers had formed a ring around the two combatants. Their lances served as a barrier between the two groups.

Naturally, Church was happier to see them than his opponent was. "Oh man, am I glad to see you guys! Good hustle, now help me out here."

One of the guards pointed his lance at Church. "_Both _of you are under arrest. Imposing as a soldier is a punishable offense!"

_Damn: I should've known someone at the bar was going to snitch._

He turned to face the dark-skinned man that had boasted about his ability to kill city guards. "Well? I'm waiting."

The man placed his dark brown eyes on Church. "You'll get a show. But not yet. There will be more to kill later."

Both combatants put their hands up as the guards proceeded to subdue them. Church just hoped that he would be put in a cell far away from this psycho.

* * *

><p>"Oh Alley! I think your little baggage companion is waking up."<p>

In some small secluded grove out in the countryside, Alleyne came to stand behind the most irritating woman she had ever known, who was kneeling in front of Lucas, propped against the rough bark of a tree.

"If you ever call me that again, that childhood incident of yours involving the wine will not remain secret from long."

Echidna cocked an eyebrow at her far older companion. "You of all people is using blackmail? I wouldn't have expected that from you. Besides, I was one hundred and seven at the time, I was hardly a child."

Although that incident some four centuries ago had indeed happened, Alleyne knew that no one today would believe that someone like Echidna had ever been so childish. That in itself made the blackmail kind of useless, but it was still fun to entertain.

More importantly, Lucas was finally stirring, after nearly two weeks of rest. Such an unnatural length of unconsciousness must have been caused by Airi: only her sinister abilities could have incapacitated Lucas for so long. He would have to be fed quite well after he awoke...

Echidna rose to her feet, stretching her back as she did so. "Anyway, I'd better disappear before he wakes up. I doubt Luke really wants to see me right now. Or ever, most likely. "

Alleyne cast a curious glance at the green-haired dark elf. "You still call him that? I thought you detested sentimentality with your students?"

Echidna began to walk off, leaving Lucas to her old friend's care. "It'd just nostalgic, that's all. It reminds me of how things were before I screwed them up."

"That almost sounded like regret, Echidna. That's not like you at all."

Echdina stopped and turned to look back at Alleyne for a moment, an usually somber expression on her face. "Look Alleyne… you know I'm not the emotional type. Usually I like to live wothout regrets, but in this case, I can't. You have something special that I don't. Your connection with Nowa is something that I envy: I could have had a relationship like that with Irma or Lucas, but I messed up both times. I know it's a little backwards for you to get advice from me, being an old hag compared to me and all…"

Alleyne couldn't believe she was hearing something like this from Echidna of all people. Of course, the Calibara elf had emotions and regrets just like anyone else, but she hardly ever expressed them to anyone. Of course, if she wanted to do it now, Alleyne was more than willing to listen.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… don't mess up what you have, Alleyne. We Elves live a long time: and that means we get to regret our decisions for a lot longer than everyone else."

"Is that why you always push Nowa away, even though she admires you so much? Are you afraid to get close to someone that looks up to you again?"

Echidna continued to walk on, a clear sign that she would be done talking after her next reply. "I don't need a third strike to realize that all I do is hurt the kids who look up to me. I'd rather be the villain in Nowa's eyes than someone who'll just hurt her in the end. If you get my drift."

Alleyne watched as Echidna disappeared into the trees, and allowed herself a smile. It was a rare phenomenon when Echidna divulged her thoughts, and Alleyne was pretty sure that she was one of the few people Echidna would actually tell these things to.

"I don't need you to tell me about regrets, Echidna… you aren't the only one…"

A mumbling from Lucas' direction took Alleyne's attention away from Echidna's departure. It probably would have been better if Nowa was the first person Lucas spoke to, but unfortunately, the young half-elf was off foraging for food because she still refused to eat any meat.

Lucas awakened slowly. It took several minutes of squirming before he finally cracked his hazel eyes open and looked beyond his light brown bangs. He noticed Alleyne standing before him almost immediately.

"…you…_Combat Master._"

The young boy used Alleyne's official title, but the disdainful tone he used was obvious. He clearly had no actual respect for the woman before him.

"That's no way to speak to your elders Lucas. Zero points."

The young boy scoffed, but he made no physical movements. It was likely that he didn't have the energy to move much. "Your scores have no meaning for me: you chose someone else to be your student, remember?"

"You were not ready to begin training Lucas. You still aren't. Your petty bitterness is proof enough of that. Now, if you aren't-"

Lucas cut her off: something Alleyne would never allow from just about anyone, but since there wasn't much she could threaten the boy with…

"Don't lecture me, Instructor. You have other fools to do that for you. Where is that woman? With the scythe? I must find her…"

"You are far from her: both physically and in terms of skill. If it were not for… someone who cares for you very much, you would have surely died. I suggest that you postpone your vengeance against the wraith until you improve. Also, Nowa is one of those 'fools' who listens to me. I suppose you were referring to her as well?"

Lucas frowned in dismay. "Nowa only listens because… uh… dammit, I wasn't referring to her! Just everyone else! And how can you expect me to 'postpone' my vengeance? Do you have any idea what that bitch did to me?!"

"I am well aware of what happened, Lucas. I know what she did. I'm not saying that you shouldn't avenge your village, but the only thing you are going to achieve at your current level is your death."

Lucas tried to struggle to his feet, but failed. "You can't tell me to wait! You don't know what it's like to lose-!"

Alleyne focused her pointed gaze at Lucas as edged words left her perfect lips. "I am one-thousand and three years old Lucas. Do you honestly think I have not experienced loss in all of that time? Believe me: I have dealt with far more suffering than you, if by sheer time spent in this world alone."

Lucas had no response, as Alleyne's statement did make perfect sense. The Combat Master used the silence to continue. "Now, if you are willing, Nowa is around here somewhere. I'm sure she would be pleased to speak with you."

"…fine. Thank you… Instructor. I would like to see her."

Alleyne nodded, and turned away from the distraught teenager. Hopefully, Nowa would be able to talk some sense into him before his attitude got him killed.

* * *

><p>"I've been in jail twice in the past three days. This is getting ridiculous. I've got to be cursed or something."<p>

Church, now stripped of his false identity, sat chained across from the very man he had hoped to be separated from. Alabaster Town's small prison only had three cells, and the other two were already filled with some small time loiterers or vagabonds or something.

Normally, only one soldier would be on duty in for such an unimportant task, but the presence of the North Realm native across from Church had increased the guard number to three.

The dark-skinned man across from Church felt dangerously close, but he glared more at the soldiers on the other side of the prison bars than at Church.

"So, uh… have you ever been in jail before?"

The man did not take his baleful gaze off of the guards outside. "The last prison I was in belonged to War Chief Kazra of the Corla tribe, which was the most formidable mountain fortress in the North Realm. It's nothing but a ruin now, littered with corpses and carnage."

Well, that was a very assuring answer. "Oh… did you do that yourself? Very impressive…"

"I had some help from the Queen's army. They burned the fortress during the night, and then slaughtered the village below."

Church was a little confused as to how this man felt about that. He couldn't quite tell by his tone of voice. "So… was that a good or a bad thing for you?"

"Chief Kazra was my father. The Corla tribe were my people. And that village was my home.'"

"Oh. So uh… you've got a bit of a grudge against the Queen, huh?"

Church was well aware that he was asking all of the wrong questions, but his charms were best used on women. Preferably pretty ones like Airi and Alleyne.

"I will destroy her and her kingdom. Her army, her castle, her followers, and anything she stands for. Anyone who gets in my way is just a hindrance that needs to be destroyed."

"So now that you know I'm not actually a soldier, I'm not one of those hindrances, right? We can go our separate ways after this."

The man finally turned his gaze towards Church. "You got in my way. I can't let you leave alive. It would ruin my reputation."

"Whoa, technically you crossed me. I was trying to get out of town, you got in _my _way. You're just mad that I survived your wrath."

Church's response actually earned a grunt that might have been laughter. "You've got some real guts. I get the feeling that's because you don't know who I am, but either way, I like it. Where are you from anyway? You aren't dressed like any peasant I've ever seen."

"I'm from a magical land very far from here, and therefore I have no clue about anything to do with Queens, wars, realms, continents, or any of that stuff. Foreigner, you know?"

"That island place across the ocean?"

"No. A couple of people seem to think that. Now… wait, are you still going to kill me?"

"Find a way to start a jailbreak and I'll consider sparing you."

Unfortunately, Church couldn't grind through his chains like he did his ropes back at Vance castle. Finding a way to escape this situation would be a bit more difficult, especially since there wasn't an immensely powerful angel to help him out.

However, it would seem that there would be another Godsend.

"Ma'am, you can't be in here. The prison is restricted to civilians. Leave imme-!"

Church and his prison buddy felt a wave of heat as a soldier out of their sight screamed in agony. The three troopers that stood guard outside the cells rushed towards the disturbance.

Church turned to face the man across from him. "That was totally me. I definitely did that."

"Sure you did."

The short exchange of words was broken by a burst of orange flame that edged around the corner of the cell. It was followed by the sound of metal-clad bodies falling to the ground, and light footsteps nearing the cell door.

Church didn't know what or who to expect, but when the rescuer rounded the corner, it was definitely not anywhere near what Church had thought. "You?!"

Before Church and his cell mate was the exact same waitress that Church had saved earlier that day. But now she was decked out in a far more alluring outfit, with a low cut scarlet red dress that sported flame designs, and purple thigh-highs and detached sleeves. Church was so distracted by her appearance that he didn't even notice the grotesque purple thing she carried with her.

"What the hell?! You can shoot fire? Since when?"

The brunette beauty stammered out her response. "Ah…s-sorry. I-I-I just… I'm here to save you!"

_Why did I have to rescue her if she's the sexy version of the Human Torch? Couldn't she have just smoked that guy earlier?_

"U-um… anyway, I'm sure I can melt through these bars… eventually…"

The less polite of the two prisoners directed his voice towards the girl. "Or you could just take the keys off of one of the soldiers you killed."

"O-oh… right. Just a second."

Their savior disappeared around the corner again. Leaving Church to consider his good luck. He was being rescued, and by an adorable babe. What more could he ask for?

* * *

><p>"Lucas! You're OK!"<p>

Lucas, who had opted to rest until Alleyne returned with the person he actually wanted to see, peeled his eyelids open to see an old friend he was very fond of.

Before he could answer, Nowa's body crashed into his with a hug. "Whew! For a while, I thought you weren't going to wake up! Thank goodness."

Lucas felt a lot of pain from that impact, but he was more than happy to suffer it. "Oof… well how can I die without seeing you again, Nowa?"

Nowa disengaged herself from the boy. "Oh, I'm sure you would much rather see Miss Echidna. She's-"

"No. I never want to see that woman again."

Nowa had a brief look of confusion, but her cheerful smile returned in no time. "Oh, than the Captain, probably."

"No! Nowa… I don't care for those two. I only want to see you. You're the only one I've ever wanted to see again…"

Lucas' somewhat endearing comment was either ignored or misunderstood by the young girl before him. "Well, I missed you too, Lucas! It's been a long time. But before we can catch up with each other, listen… don't ever do something so stupid again!"

"B-but Nowa, I had to-"

Nowa silenced Lucas' objection. "Never! You could've died out there! I promise that I'll take care of that monster. I don't want you getting hurt."

A brief flash of anger crossed Lucas' face. "You expect me to sit back and let you fight my battles?"

"It's not your battle-"

"The hell it isn't! She destroyed everything that was precious to me! Everything except yo-"

Nowa interrupted again before Lucas could finish his sentence. He couldn't help but wonder if she would have even understood what he meant.

"Fine! Maybe it is your fight… but it's my fault that she got away. She shouldn't be alive to be your problem. That means that it's mine. I mean, if Miss Echidna hadn't saved you, you would be-"

"What? E…Echidna's here? Why?! Where?!"

Nowa began to back away, realizing that she had made a mistake. "…I shouldn't have told you that… Lucas, I think you need to rest."

"Tell me where she is!"

"Lucas, I really think you should-"

"Tell me where Echidna is, Nowa!"

There was no response from the girl this time. Nowa shook her head and slowly backed away from the boy. He was clearly too angry to have a rational discussion at the moment. "Sorry Lucas."

"Ah, Nowa, wait! I'm sorry! Come on!"

The half-elf girl disappeared into the woods without much delay. Lucas let out a sigh, but the silence he expected to come was disturbed by Alleyne's voice, on the opposite side of the tree he rested against.

"I'd give you zero points for that blunder as well. You should get a few pointers from a man I met recently."

"How long have you been there?"

"I was interested in witnessing how Nowa would react to seeing you again. I was also here to make sure you would not attempt to hurt her."

"I would never hurt Nowa. Not for any reason."

There was a few moments of silence as Alleyne contemplated something. "…is that so? You were quite bitter towards her a few years back."

"I was bitter towards you! Not her."

"So you were angry that I chose Nowa, but not angry at her because she earned her place before you?"

Within himself, Lucas knew that Alleyne was punching holes in his argument. But he wasn't willing to admit that he had, at one time, been bitter towards the girl he adored. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Where is Echidna?"

"I don't think it would be wise for you to speak with her until you've calmed down a bit. After all, she saved you from your opponent: she is far stronger than you, by many times. You shouldn't try to pick a fight you have no hope of winning."

"I will pay her back for abandoning me. I won't forgive her."

No answer ever came. Hours of silence followed Lucas' last words. Obviously, Alleyne had found something more important to do than listen to his grievances. All he could do was rest, and drown his mind in thoughts of his new company.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe it took you ten minutes to open the damned door. Conties…"<p>

Church rubbed his wrists as his beautiful and bashful rescuer undid his shackles. The fact that her amazing assets dangled in front of his face while she did so served to distract him from the weird purple thing she carried around that seemed like a nightmare from Tim Burton's mind.

"Hey, she saved your life, you could at least be grateful. What the hell is a Contie anyway?"

"They call us Barbs, we call them Conties. And watch it: I'm still judging whether or not I should kill you."

Church ignored the man, whose name he had yet to learn, and focused on the perpetually blushing girl that was far more tasteful to think of anyway. "Don't mind him, you've really saved us here. At least I'm grateful. And so I have to ask your name, Miss…?"

"N-Nyx… I, um… y-you're welcome. I-I mean you saved me first, sir…"

Church tried to ignore the tentacle monster that was a stark contrast to the beauty that held it. Unfortunately, it sort of drew attention to itself. Even more so than the Nyx's curvaceous body.

_Oh man, I'm really a terrible person. It's just one girl after another… c'mon, it's not my fault that ugly women don't exist in this place!_

"Great, so uh… speaking of that, why didn't you just crisp that guy in the bar? Would've worked better than what I did…"

"Oh, I um… I c-can't-"

The short conversation was cut off by the third companion who had yet to make himself scarce. "Are you people going to just sit there and chat it up, or get out here and help me with the reinforcements?"

"I thought you said you could deal with that kind of shit yourself!"

"I'll come back in there and deal with you if you don't shut the hell up and get out here!"

Church gave Nyx a small look of worry. "I think that means you'll have to get my name later. It'd suck to be killed by one of the guys you rescued."

"S-should I go in front? Unless you want to…?"

"Well…uh… I mean… yeah, I guess, 'cuz, you know… you shoot fire, and uh… I don't… but I can still go in front, if you uh…"

"Get out here now!"

* * *

><p>Many, many leagues away from all of this hardship, out in the desert that Church still hates with a passion, Menace was fighting a different battle, with much lower stakes. "You know Setra, it gets kind of boring around here sometimes. Even with all of the servants, something is missing…"<p>

"That might be the lack of beautiful women, milady, or that might just be me… no. We definitely need more concubines!"

"Oh, you're right! I really do wish we had kept that boy. Didn't Airi take him with her?"

"T-that's not really what I meant, milady…"

"We should go see if Airi is done sleeping around with him yet. He must be really good for her to have kept him to herself for so long."

"…I don't think that's what she's been doing…"

Completely ignoring Setra's comment on Airi's behavior, Menace rose to her feet with new energy, glad to find something to do for just a little while.

"It's settled then! Let's take a short little vacation, and secure another servant for the Amara kingdom while we're at it!"

"…on second thought, we have plenty of girls here… oh, never mind…"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, it's a little better, but I still think this is my least favorite chapter. Oh well. They can't all be phenomenal.<strong>


	26. Anti-Citizen One

**Looking over all of my chapters, I think it's obvious that we aren't following the official QB timeline here. So from now on, you shouldn't be surprised if there is a major deviation in proper times and junk. Of course, this can't really be considered AU, since we are in the same universe… so what, alternate timeline maybe? I don't know, minus time, I'll try to keep things pretty straight and canon, as far as official events and characters go.**

**Plus, Mr. Guest who commented on Church's use of culture references and whatnot: I don't see why he can't. I mean, if you look at the dates I mention throughout the story, the NOVA apocalypse didn't occur until 2012; games like Skyrim were already out by then, so references to the game make sense, time-wise. And Captain Falcon was out way before that, so there's no problem there… If you're referring as to why a soldier would know those things, I know plenty of military guys (being a military brat myself) who play video games, especially younger guys like Church.**

**Anyway… glad to get things started again, so let's kick off already!**

**(P.S. Church is obviously the best Blue on the team.)**

* * *

><p>Church took careful aim at an approaching enemy soldier, and lobbed a scavenged spear at him. His aim held true, and the deadly iron head pierced the guardsman through the leg. It was by no means a fatal blow, but that was exactly what he had been aiming for: he didn't want to kill these guards for simply doing their jobs.<p>

"Well, I may not be much of a warrior, but when it comes to throwing things at people…"

A blast of flame at Church's back caused a wave of heat to roll over him. Chances were that Nyx had just charred another handful of soldiers. She didn't seem to have the same qualms about killing them as Church did.

Speaking of which, this situation actually wasn't going all that poorly. That bloodthirsty barbarian had thankfully split off a little while ago to do whatever the hell people like him did, but Nyx and Church were holding their own in the alleys of Alabaster Town without him. Unfortunately, staying off of the streets meant that the two strangers had to navigate the maze like narrow corridors between the stone houses in search of an exit.

But for the moment, the enemy had been dispatched. The guard Church had wounded had already fled the scene, crawling or dragging himself away from the carnage. For now, Church and his fire-flinging savior were alone, and a brief respite was more than welcome.

"You really are putting a lot on the line just for some guy you met at the bar. You probably shouldn't have done this."

Nyx fidgeted with her index fingers, stuttering over her words, which seemed to be something common for her. "W-w-well… I may have just met you, but... most guys wouldn't… d-do something like you did for me. They're usually just like that man at the bar. B-but, you were… the first man who was really... different."

"I'm different from the people around here in more ways than I would like, origin especially..."

Nyx meant to ask Church what he meant, but the sound of battle had attracted more guards, and fight or flight was once again necessary to survive.

* * *

><p>"Wow… Daddy must be pissed."<p>

Elina and her eldest sister stood within the castle courtyard that had been ravaged quite recently by battle. Together they looked up at the severe damage Claudette's thunder strike had done to the stone wall. Where the evaded bolt had struck, there was a massive hole, spanning nearly one hundred and thirty feet from end-to-end. Several laborers, villagers from the surrounding area, were working on repairs, but such a thing would probably take months.

And of course, the fact that Claudette had inadvertently caused this damage was not lost on her. She berated herself for not being more careful, but her irritability didn't show on her face in any way.

"Well then it is fortunate that Father is preoccupied with more serious matters. This blunder is probably the least of his worries."

Elina yawned with what was probably more boredom than fatigue. "Yeah, what's got him so serious anyway? I mean, Daddy's always serious, but I think it's been a little more than usual today."

Claudette was more than aware of what thoughts occupied the Count's mind, as he had seen fit to inform her of the Swamp Witch's offer of an alliance. But beyond herself and her father's trusted advisers, no one knew what was going on.

The Thundercloud General wasn't really sure how she felt about such a proposal. It was clear to everyone that the Witch could not be trusted, but it was also clear that as things were now, Vance would never possess the capability of taking down the Queen on their own. They just didn't have the military strength, or the tactical aptitude of the current snow-haired ruler.

Realistically speaking, they could have just waited until Aldra was displaced by another warrior, but there was little chance of that happening. The beast of a girl had already eliminated whatever opposition came her way in the last tournaments, and chances were this one would be no exception.

That was why Claudette had signed up for the upcoming Queen's Blade later this year: if anyone on the Continent even stood a chance against Aldra, it was her. At least, she had confidence that was the case. Her two sisters, on the other hand, were fools for signing up, although Elina had only done so for the sake of finding Leina.

Why that foolish girl had ran off with some bandit, Claudette would probably never understand. It may have been an attempt to escape responsibility, or some other troubles of life, but either way, Leina had acted shamefully and with disregard to her duties.

It had been foremost in the Count's mind to bring the heir of his lineage back, but it was quite difficult to track one person across the vast vestiges of the Continent, especially with the dangers that it posed for enemies of the Queen herself. The only useful thing known about Leina right now was that she had indeed signed up for the tournament, which was why Elina had decided to as well, in hopes of easily locating her sister when the tournament rolled around several months from now.

"Uh… Claudette? Sis?"

Elina's questioning tone broke Claudette out of her consuming thoughts, and she realized that she had never answered the youngest Vance sister's question. "The worries of a Count are many, Elina. He's dealing with matters that we thankfully do not have to attend to."

Elina didn't look like she believed her father's job was any more stressful than hers, but she just gave a dismissive shrug and let it stand. Silence ensued for a few brief moments, but with all of the world's problems, it was no surprise that it didn't last.

"Captain Elina! General Claudette!"

The two siblings turned to face an approaching soldier, who was nearly out of breath. Elina looked like she didn't want to deal with anything trivial, so Claudette took the initiative to respond.

"What is it, soldier? I trust there's a good reason for this…"

"A nearby village has requested a platoon of reinforcements to counter a jailbreak! One of the prisoners fits the description of the man found in the castle last night! The town guards are getting annihilated out there!"

Mention of the man that had broken out of the dungeon caught Elina's interest. In her opinion, nothing was a better remedy for boredom than chasing down a criminal. "Don't worry, Claudette. I'll take some troops and head over there. Don't waste your time on something so petty."

Claudette knew that Elina was only offering to head up the soldiers so that she could escape her restless boredom, but she figured her little sister could do the job well regardless. "As you wish. Be sure to try and bring him back alive. I would have a word or two with him."

"Yeah, yeah, sure Sis. Hey, can I borrow some of your men? I wanna test them."

"My men are not toys, Elina."

"But they're supposed to be the best we have: I've never gotten to see them work. Besides, all of my troops are on guard duty, so I can't take them."

Claudette was a little averse to giving up some of her personal troops, but she figured that there would be little harm done, even with Elina in command. "Fine, but only a single platoon. My men have more important things to do than round up prisoners."

* * *

><p>Church was morbidly reminded of Pokemon as he watched Nyx in action. Fire types had always been his favorite.<p>

With that thought on his mind, Church tried to tally the difference in destruction between himself and Nyx. So far his buxom companion had seven crispy takedowns compared Church's two. Church had to admit that on one hand, he was impressed with Nyx's ability to deal with potentially dangerous enemies, but on the other, he was more than slightly perturbed to watch the fiery magic user in action.

Contrary to the shy and bashful countenance she usually brought to bear on Church, Nyx's face was sadistically gleeful as she charred oncoming soldiers. It was such a huge shift in her personality that Church almost figured that Nyx may have had multiple personalities, but he was reluctant to jump to such a dire conclusion. Instead, he allotted her attitude to the 'reason to hate the people I'm killing' category.

Church didn't have long to speculate on his womanly companion. Another handful of crimson armored guards was soon rushing towards the two of them. This group of three looked like raw recruits, smooth faced and young. Church felt a pang of regret as he imagined these kids probably even younger than him getting crisped by Nyx, who would most likely care less about their lives if they wore the uniform.

Fortunately, Nyx was distracted by a couple of guards on her side of the situation, swinging that grotesque purple staff and spouting flames of orange from her fingertips. In an attempt to alert the approaching greenhorn kids to the danger they faced. Church made every effort to draw their attention to Nyx, hoping that the sight of a fire spewing beauty would scare them away.

Of course, it was hard to miss a stunningly beautiful and attractive woman spouting small infernos, so the three new contenders in the fray balked and stayed quite a few meters away. Church tried to shoo them away altogether, but the three soldiers seemed to have enough courage to at least stay nearby, instead of fleeing the scene like cowards.

Church heard more cries of agony from Nyx's general direction, followed by the crunch of metal clad bodies crumpling to the ground. Finished with them, she turned back to check on Church, and would no doubt spot the three indecisive troopers.

Church tried to frantically shoo them away before Nyx decided to torch them as well, but their salvation came in another form. A guard captain someway down the street called out to them. "Squad Seven, pull back to the marketplace! We need more backup for that damned Barb!"

More than happy to comply with the orders to put distance between themselves and Nyx, the three-man squad hastily retreated down the street. Seeing them flee, Nyx raised the palm of her hand in preparation for another fount of flame, but Church stepped in front of her, hoping she would decline blasting him in the face.

"Those guys are already bailing, Nyx. There's no need for that. We should just get going."

Nyx's vibrant green eyes were cold for a moment, but her gaze readily softened. "A-alright… I'm sorry about that, I just… I got carried away. I-I'm sorry…"

"I think self-defense is enough justification. Either way, we should probably make ourselves scarce while we have the chance."

Nyx nodded bashfully, averting her eyes. With eye contact broken, Church shifted his gaze away as well and accidentally towards his ally's writhing staff. Just the sight of the thing almost made Church recoil, but it was also grossly fascinating. He felt almost certain that the creature's sole crimson eye was staring at him with near animal hostility.

Eager to distract himself from that unnerving thought, Church grabbed Nyx by her free hand and tugged her in the direction he thought he had entered the town from with Mirim earlier that day. Unbeknownst to him, Nyx nearly passed out in embarrassment, and her staff was incredibly displeased with the whole situation.

* * *

><p>"I honestly have no idea how her Majesty can be so nonchalant when so many dangers loom just over the horizon!"<p>

Irma, once again fetching Aldra's adviser, followed slightly behind the balding man in velvet purple robes as he wailed about all the non-royal aspects of Aldra's character. Irma honestly had no idea why he felt the need to vent to someone who cared absolutely nothing about his opinion, but perhaps her lack of response made Jauffre think he was being intently listened to.

"She always spends so much time on her silly games, when she should be fretting over the possible war situation with Vance! And the funds used for the search efforts could be better spent bolstering the ranks for when the Witch's undead armies inevitably invade!"

It was difficult for just about anyone to elicit a reaction from Irma, but Jauffre was one of the few people around who could exasperate the North Realm native to an extent where even she rolled her eyes. Despite the more than satisfying job Aldra was doing ruling an entire continent, Jauffre always found some fault in either her methods, attitude, and in one instance, the lack of regal appearance. His exact words had been, "Lazy posture, unkempt hair, and an outfit more suited to a shameless commoner than a Queen."

No doubt some of the people he ranted to told others of it, and Aldra was more than aware that the man constantly spoke ill of her regarding trivial matters, but she knew that Jauffre only had the country's best interests in mind, and although he was slightly paranoid and incredibly picky about how a Queen should look, act, and speak, Aldra valued his opinion enough to keep him around.

"And sometimes I just wish her Highness would take a brush to her unruly hair! It should be more neat and streamlined and straight. That may be one of the few things the Vance heirs do correctly."

Needless to say, Irma was more than happy to usher Jauffre into the ornate throne room through its large oaken doors, so he could waste his breath on someone other than her.

And he found plenty of reason to do so. He found Aldra lying sideways on her throne, back leaning against one armrest with her legs crossed and thrown over the other. This lax position seemed to be Aldra's favorite when she found little else to do but think.

"Your Highness! Such an undignified position is sure to be harmful to your regal image! What if a civilian saw you like that!? The result would be catastrophic!"

Clearly not alarmed by the 'catastrophic' results of her relaxing pose, Aldra barely tilted her head in order to look in Jauffre's direction. "I believe that with everything we are dealing with at the moment, my disregard for a regal image may be overlooked. Have you acquired the documents I asked of you?"

Aldra moved right into business, and Jauffre, well aware of his position of importance, dropped the trivial matter that had been the previous topic and dove into his role.

Irma tuned out the words themselves, and focused on the appearance of the young ruler before her. Aldra's cries had echoed throughout the castle halls again last night, and the lack of sleep was obvious in the form of dark bags under her eyelids. Most of the right was covered by her eye patch, but either way, it was clear that she had not rested well lately.

Seeing Aldra in any less than optimal condition made Irma uncomfortable. Since the closing days of the Barbarian Wars, Irma had viewed her Queen as an invincible force: anything that denied the fantasy of that image unnerved the Queen's most loyal vassal. After all, Supreme tactician or not, even Aldra could not beat outmaneuver her dreams.

"Irma?"

Her name snapped Irma out of her sullen musings, and she bowed low before her Queen. "Yes, your Majesty?"

"I believe I have found a task befitting of someone I trust. Would you mind taking a look at these papers Jauffre secured for me?"

Irma accepted the papers Aldra offered from her unbound right hand. A quick once-over for important parts and key words gave Irma the gist of things. A Warrior Priestess from Hinomoto was coming to the Continent, seeking aid from the Queen after a devastating attack from the Kouma ninja clan. "The emissary from Hinomoto... do you truly think she is here looking for assistance?"

Aldra breathed out a long and weary sigh. "Considering that Hinomoto is truly governed by the shogun aristocrats, and not their darling Empress, I find it difficult to believe that visitors from that land would be here for any other purpose than to claim the throne, or failing that, acquire important information. Although there is a chance that she may be an ally of the Empress and is truly looking for aid, it is also possible that she is a spy."

"I assume that my assignment is to discern the nature of her presence?"

"Indeed. Whether she is a spy or not, I trust your discretion in the matter. Still, try to refrain from killing her regardless of her allegiance. The dead cannot be questioned."

Irma bowed low again, well aware that Aldra was placing a lot of trust in her, and glad that locating a foreigner would not be too terribly difficult. Since the Queen's Blade was orchestrated by heaven's hosts, they were very cooperative when it came to reasonable requests from the Capital Church. Melpha would likely be able to pinpoint the foreigner's whereabouts with little trouble.

Since the first step was obvious, Irma decided to go about performing her duties straight away. After all, Aldra would make sure anything important was said before her assassin left.

"There is one more thing, Irma."

"Yes, your Majesty?"

"Feel free to take it easy on the way back. You have gone a long time without a break. When's the last time you visited that stray cat?"

Despite never having told Aldra of that poor cat, Irma wasn't the least bit surprised that she knew about it. "I can't afford breaks, so long as you have troubles that I can deal with."

"Well in that case, I order you to remain outside of the castle for at least a month."

"Your majesty, such an extended absence is-"

"A command. I'm not taking no for an answer. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself while you spend on a little time on you. A lack of social interaction can be quite detrimental to a person's health you know. Go out and socialize or some such."

Considering Irma's personality, she was almost sure that Aldra was joking about something as wasteful as 'socializing', but her face and tone of voice were both unflinchingly neutral. Even though Irma was reluctant to leave Aldra's side at all, never mind for a month, she was being ordered to do so, and she knew that Aldra had her best interests in mind. Even Irma had to admit that her life had been stressful of late, and a little time away from serious affairs would be welcome. She was just too stubborn to take that break, especially when it meant leaving all of those troubles to Aldra alone.

"Can we shorten that time to a week, your Majesty?"

"It'll take roughly a week just for you to finish this assignment Irma, leaving no time to yourself. I'm sure a month is fine."

"…two weeks?"

An amused smile flashed across Aldra's face. "Three, at the least. Twenty-one days away from the castle, or else."

Convinced that that was as much negotiating as could be accomplished, Irma made her exit, silently sulking about her misfortune. Despite all of her overly mature features, she was still as stubborn as a young child when it came to leaving Aldra unattended. Whether or not she could take care of herself was irrelevant: it was whether or not the Queen would lose herself in some philosophical musings, or waste hours of the day creating new stratagems for impossible battle situations. She really was easily distracted by her hobbies these days.

* * *

><p>"…are we lost?"<p>

Church stared intensely at another intersection of alleys, trying to decide if he had been here once already. However, it was a hopeless endeavor to notice anything distinguishing, and he had to admit that Nyx's innocent question was most likely the truth.

"Well I am, but you probably know where you're going, having lived here and all."

"Um…I don't l-live here… I was just stopping for a job on the way somewhere else…"

Of course that was the case. When did anything ever go in Church's favor? "Then yes, we are definitely lost. But the street can't be too far away: this town isn't that large."

Suddenly, the moderate quiet of the secluded alley was shattered by a distant clang of armor on stone, somewhere off to what was most likely the center of the town.

"Sounds like our brawler buddy is having a good time. Let's head that way. When we get to the street, it'll be easier to find the gate."

Nyx nodded in agreement, causing her lengthy brunette locks to sway with the motion. Church had noticed that she was more of the type for following, rather than leading, although that wasn't surprising with her obvious lack of all-around boldness.

Having decided on a course of action, the two fresh allies made their way towards the ever increasing sounds of a scuffle. When the unlikely duo shortly found their way onto one of Alabaster Town's main streets, they found themselves surrounded by vending stalls and storefronts: and unconscious or dead guards.

This was obviously the market area, where those three troopers had been summoned to in order to help fight the stranger Church had unfortunately met earlier. That man's presence was made obvious by the kind of wounds visible on the defeated soldiers around. Instead of the piercings and gashes of edged weapon type injuries, the men and women around bore the obvious marks of blunt trauma; caved in helmets, shattered bones, and bruised and bloody faces, for the most part. The most disturbing part of this was that that man had probably done it all with his fists.

Speaking of that berserker fellow, Church noticed him further down the street, tussling with a handful of guards who were either brave or stupid enough to face him. It was quite the spectacle, watching the dark-skinned brute bash in metal armor with his fists and fling unlucky soldiers over fifteen feet away. His ridiculously bulging muscles obviously weren't just for show.

Even more amazing were the wounds on the man himself. His loose and unrefined fighting style left him open many times, and there was evidence of it all over his body, in the form of small nicks and slashes that had barely missed their marks. Furthermore, using his hands on metal-clad soldiers certainly had a negative effect on the skin of his knuckles. With his hands bleeding profusely, it was a wonder how he kept smashing faces with them.

Something about watching the unfortunate guards get brutalized by hand was even more gruesome than watching it happen with weapons. Sure, there wasn't any mutilation going on, but every punch that landed caused a sickly crunch of bones, and no doubt a lot of severe organ trauma.

When one unusually bold soldier swung his blade in a downwards vertical arc at his target, his had was grabbed at the wrist and instantly stopped. A second later, a straight punch to the elbow caused the soldier's joint to crack and bend in the opposite direction that nature intended. Before the man could even loose a scream of agony, he was slugged in the throat, and fell to the ground in spasmodic pain.

The rest of the poor sods didn't have it too much better. In fact, some were worse. One man's knee was snapped backwards, another one had her neck snapped in a sickening fashion, and a third was thrown to the ground and pounded until he hardly looked human anymore.

The more soldiers that went down, the less soldiers there were who had enough courage to charge at their brutal enemy. But it made little difference: when they didn't come to him, he went to them instead.

Church looked on the scene of battle with a mixed feeling of awe and bitterness. He was no one to talk when it came to killing others, but such obvious bloodlust was appalling. For Church, killing an enemy was a matter of necessity, not pleasure or wanton destruction.

"S-should we… help him?"

Church shook his head clear and turned back to Nyx, who, although having uttered such a question, looked like the last place she wanted to be was near that man. "I'd say he's doing just fine on his own. Let's make ourselves scarce before he turns on us."

Nyx seemed more than happy to do just that. She followed Church away from the fray, and towards the town gates, which could be seen several hundred meters down the street. There were no obstacles between themselves and the goal, and Church was glad to have a straight shot out of here.

So much in fact that he settled for a leisurely jog instead of a full sprint towards the target. What was the point of rushing when all of the guards were preoccupied with something far worse than a petty criminal and a magic user?

Much to Church's astonishment, the gates even began to open as he and Nyx approached them. It was like God was opening a clear path…

Any use of logic could have told Church that the only reason the gate would open was to let something in, and not let escaped prisoners out. As that precise situation unfolded, Church realized the true nature of his misfortune.

"Aw, son of a bitch…"

The gates were opening to let in another full complement of soldiers, but with a new addition in the form of a distinct cat-like commander itching to cause trouble.

"Well look what we have here... did you miss me, 'servant boy'?"

* * *

><p>"Eat the fish, Nowa."<p>

"I can't!"

"You'll starve if you don't."

"But it'll make me feel guilty…"

"It's already dead, just eat it. It's a waste of life if it doesn't benefit someone."

Alleyne sat back and watched as Echidna tried to convince a starving Nowa that eating a cooked fish didn't make her a terrible and unforgivable person.

"I'd rather starve!"

Seeing Echidna's lack of success, Alleyne took a more persuasive route. "Nowa, if you starve and die, think of all the things you'll never see again. You'll never be able to go back to the forest, Ru will be left all alone, and you'll never, ever get to see Church or me or anyone else ever again."

Nowa almost glared at her instructor for using such dirty persuasive techniques on her, but they were working nevertheless.

By the look on the poor girl's face as she ate, you'd think she just accidentally killed somebody.

* * *

><p><strong>So many stories, so many ideas for new stories, so little time… it's been awhile, so I would definitely like to hear from you guys. Don't leave me all alone… no one here beside me…<strong>

**Anyway, I'm glad to get back to this. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.**


	27. A First Time For Everything

**So it's been said that Church's references to popular culture is off-putting or a little out of place, because the time period he came from was post-apocalyptic. I guess it could be seen that way, but I prefer to think that his laidback personality, as well as the fact that the apocalypse he endured was fairly recent, allows him to maintain some sort of lighthearted normality for life as it used to be. Not that this is a serious issue. I mean, he only makes like, one reference every few chapters. Opinions are opinions, feel free to have and speak them.**

**A few funny things also hit me recently, about how 'beautiful and attractive' everyone is in a medieval setting. Imagine how much less eye-catching QB would be if it was as realistic as possible. We'd have crooked and missing teeth, rampant diseases, skin problems, (A shitload of scars from all of that fighting) and God knows what else. Fortunately anime surpasses reality and we don't have to worry about that kind of thing.**

**I swear this story will be in the frickin' seventies chapter-wise at the rate it's progressing…**

* * *

><p>Of all the people Church could have encountered as the 'final boss' before escaping this town, the blonde tiger-like woman before him definitely topped the list of negatives. Even the other redhead that could shoot lightning bolts would have been preferable over this little psycho who, if he recalled correctly, had fantasized about castrating him just the other day.<p>

Church backed away from the company of Vance troops and their sadistic leader, fully preparing for a hasty retreat. His flame-wielding companion, on the other hand, had the exact opposite in mind. Nyx actually edged forward a little, with her grip tightening in fury on her staff.

"Y-y-you…"

With a flip of her golden locks, the girl Nyx approached dismissed her presence entirely. "Move aside peasant. You're in the way."

With a snarl of rage, Nyx responded to the woman and her troops with a massive fireball considerably larger than any of the ones Church had witnessed thus far. The sphere of flame arced towards the enemy with deadly speed, and the entire Vance unit scrambled out of the way as fast as they could.

The fiery attack splashed along the ground where the soldiers had once stood, exploding outwards in a wave of heat and licking flames. The radius of the splash damage was so large that nearly half the troops targeted caught some amount of fire that radiated outward from the impact. Some were better off than others, although a fair number of the soldiers were badly scorched and a handful of them were killed almost instantly.

Church let out an impressed whistle, despite being somewhat afraid of the whole situation himself. "Whew… damn. Glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that!"

The afflicted troops were gathering their bearings and recovering from Nyx's attack, but the captain who had lead them was nowhere in sight. Nyx scanned for the woman in order to attack her again: Church did the same just out of caution. It almost seemed to him that the blonde beast had been disintegrated, but he knew that there was no way Nyx's flames could have been hot enough to accomplish such a feat. At most, there would have been a smoldering corpse.

But the woman in question was neither vaporized nor burnt to a crisp. Rather she had deftly evaded the flaming assault and dived into an alley, which she had navigated until she reached the perfect position to surprise Nyx from the side.

Pouncing from in-between the buildings to Nyx's left, she pinned her assailant to the ground, and her talon-tipped gauntlet found its way around Nyx's neck. For lack of a better description, she seemed furious.

"How dare a commoner like you attack me! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

Nyx struggled to kick the woman off of her, but she didn't have physical strength equal to the woman that restrained her. "I know exactly who you are, you bitch! That's why I'm going to kill you!"

Being addressed in such a derogatory way served only to further aggravate the woman that pinned Nyx to the dusty ground. As if to reprimand the fire-wielding magician below her, the predator-like blonde dug the tips of her gauntlet into the soft skin of Nyx's neck, eliciting a cry of pain from the woman and a tiny smirk of pleasure from the inflicter of such pain.

Church turned his attention to the soldiers that his feminine ally had attacked a couple of minutes ago, wondering if he had enough time to step in for Nyx before they fell upon him with swords, spears, and who knew what else.

Fortunately, the professional, disciplined soldiers were holding back, awaiting orders from their commander. Seeing as there was at least ten feet between himself and the soldiers, Church decided he'd be able to cut into Nyx's struggle with her opponent before one of the soldiers managed to stop him.

Church sprinted towards the two grappling women, planning to plant his foot in the blonde's face while she was distracted with her current prey. A handful of the soldiers on the side bolted forward to try and intercept him, but they wouldn't be able to cut Church off before he reached his goal.

Unfortunately, Church didn't realize that his target was fully aware of his presence until he was halfway through the air in an improvised karate kick. He should have known better than to believe that a skilled warrior would forget about a second threat even while dealing with the first, but it was a little late to have realized that.

With a look of annoyance, the girl Church had hoped to hit took her hand off of Nyx for a split second in order to catch Church's outstretched foot by the ankle. A quick twist served to spin Church around and plant him on the ground next to the two girls, with nothing but a painful sprain to show for his effort.

But although the amateurish attack had seemed futile, it served more of a purpose than Church realized. His enemy had her unarmored hand occupied with the task of holding her spear, so she was forced to remove her clawed gauntlet from Nyx's neck in order to deflect Church. It only took her a moment or two, but it was enough time for Nyx to send a blast of flame up into the blonde's face.

With cat-like reflexes, the woman on top of Nyx's body whipped her head back in time to avoid losing most of the skin on her face, but nevertheless, her golden hair and eyebrows singed and blackened around the edges.

Taking advantage of his position and his enemy's instability from the dodge, Church flung his leg back and slammed the toe of his tennis shoe into the back of the woman's head. The awkward movement caused a pretty good deal of pain to Church as well, and it no doubt further damaged his already frayed, stained, and falling apart footwear.

In fact, his whole outfit was in terrible condition, considering that he had worn almost nothing else for months. His jeans were torn and frayed to kingdom come, his shoes were now browner than the grey they used to be, and the black undershirt beneath his jacket had several rips and stains. Only his jacket remained at a decent level of durability, because it had been specially designed with quality materials.

Church's awkward position didn't allow him to put too much force into the kick, but either way, the attack caused his target to flinch forward in pain, and Nyx found it the perfect opportunity to shove the woman off of her.

This whole miniscule melee took no longer than a few seconds, but it was enough time for the enemy soldiers to reach the spot it took place and gather around their wincing commander.

"Captain Elina, are you alright?!"

Elina clutched the back of her head and muttered in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… go help the other troops! I'll handle these two myself!"

A few of the soldiers looked at their commander with uncertainty. "Are you sure, Captain? Maybe we should stay with-!"

The soldier's suggestion was cut off by an angry reaffirmation of Elina's command. "I said, I'll handle them! Go do what I told you to do, dammit!"

With hurried nods and quite a few glances of distaste for their temporary leader, the contingent of Vance soldiers hurried off in the direction of the scuffle in the market, leaving Church, Nyx, and Elina to themselves.

_She's awfully confident: or just full of herself. Probably the latter._

Church got to his feet alongside Nyx, who was massaging her neck where Elina had gripped it with her talon-tipped fingers.

The triad of combatants (although Church was only loosely associated with that term) were now in more or less of a triangular two-on-one standoff. Down the street, Elina's troops joined the fray with the brawler Church had fought with earlier that day.

Before, Elina's gaze had only been directed at Nyx: but now that Church had dared to actually touch her, her vehement blue eyes rested on him as well. Of course, Church noticed that Nyx had a look of equal, if not more fury than her opponent's. Whatever had made these two enemies must have been serious.

The pause in battle didn't last long. No words were spoken, so both Nyx and her opponent were eager to get back at each other's throats as soon as they had recovered.

Church's ally launched another fire bolt at their mutual enemy, who gracefully leaped over it with ease. Nyx tried to follow her target through the air with a gout of flame, but it trailed behind the blond woman instead of burning her.

Nyx didn't seem to understand why her flames fell short even though she aimed them directly at her opponent, but Church knew the physics behind the inaccuracy. Much like bird hunting, you had to aim in front of the moving target to intercept it with a projectile. Even if your ammunition was fire, your target had moved further than where you aimed by the time your attack reached the spot where it used to be. Church wasn't sure how or if ballistics applied to fire at all, but he figured that the aspect of aiming in front of a moving target was the same idea.

Having completely avoided the attack, Elina planted her feet back on the dirt ground between Church and Nyx, swiping her claw at the voluptuous fire-flinging woman now near her. Nyx stumbled backwards in an attempt to dodge it, and she mostly succeeded, although the tips of Elina's fingers tore off the front end of Nyx's scarlet dress.

Church did absolutely everything in his power, everything he could within Heaven, Hell, and the Earth in-between to remain focused on the fight and stay professional, but he knew that he'd have to be completely gay to not focus on the way Nyx's breasts bounced out of her torn clothing.

He tried, he really did, but immediately every bit of his focus went from, _I should probably help her, _to _God has blessed me greatly this day.  
><em>

Surprisingly, Nyx was so focused on the heat of the battle that she didn't even notice Church's ogling. Or, even if she did, she didn't care enough to cover herself in the midst of her fight.

Instead she snarled in rage and swung her hand in an arc before her, with orange flames trailing behind it. The sweeping fire lashed out at Elina, and unfortunately obscured Church's view of Nyx's bountiful bosom. Thankfully, the break in his view snapped Church back to reality.

Elina back-flipped away from the scorching flames, but seemed to forget that Church was behind her. She nearly landed right in Church's arms, who proceeded to wrap them around the girl in a Full Nelson in an effort to subdue her. He didn't really realize how bad of an idea that was until she flipped over him as well, using his own grip on her arms as leverage to slam the modern soldier into the hard ground.

With a grunt of pain, Church tried to get back to his feet, but the cat-like girl above him pinned him to the ground and punched him the face with a flurry of vicious blows. Church tried to raise his arms in defense, but he was only mildly successful. He managed to keep the painful attacks from his nose, at the very least.

The assault only lasted for a few moments, as it was interrupted when Nyx practically tackled Elina off of Church. The two women rolled around in the dirt, clawing at each other like animals. It dawned on Church that this was more of a catfight than a legit engagement, although he couldn't really complain about two women roughhousing with hardly any clothes on (Especially in Nyx's case).

The squirming purple staff Nyx wielded was knocked out of her grasp, and it rolled to the side. Church had half a mind to return it to its owner, but he was loath to touch the thing for any reason. It reminded him of some weird Japanese shit that the Internet used to love tossing around.

Instead Church wiped away the blood trickling from his face, and rose to his feet to watch the scuffle with interest. He wasn't really in the mood to join the two women, (oh, he would have been glad to _join _them, but not fight in the intense grapple going on) and he sure as hell wasn't going to go back up his cellmate from earlier.

So instead he watched with intense focus as Elina and Nyx tumbled along the ground, tearing and ripping at each other's clothes. One of the purple plumes that came out of Nyx's dress was shredded, and part of Elina's breastplate was dislodged, revealing just a bit of her decent sized breasts.

A tiny voice called out from the alleyway to the side, drawing Church's attention away from the erotic spectacle in the street. "Mr. Church!"

Church easily recognized the voice of the little girl who had helped him earlier, instantly making him feel guilty for thinking of such impure things as he ran over to her. "Mirim? Why are you still here? It's dangerous out in the town right now!"

Young Mirim, with her shoulder-length viridian hair, puffed out her cheeks in dismay. "Mr. Church, you're getting all happy about adult things, aren't you? That's dirty!"

Church rolled his eyes and patted Mirim on the head. "Oh, be quiet you little runt! What do you know about adult things anyway?"

Mirim let out a small smile, but the overall serious atmosphere of the town-turned-battleground kept it at that. "Mr. Church, don't tell me you're all wrapped up in this? I thought you were going to stay out of trouble!"

Church rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Geez, you sound like a miniature version of my sister! Cut me some slack, will you?"

Mirim frowned. "When you say stuff like that, it sounds like you're the one who made all of this bad stuff happen! That's not true, is it?"

Caught red-handed, Church shrugged in defeat. "What can I say? Beautiful, unstable women are just attracted to me. Can't be blamed for that, right?"

"I think you can."

Church shrugged off the deflection of his boasts. "Most girls seem to think that."

A screech of anger from the street cut into Church and Mirim's short conversation, and Church decided that getting as far away from that fray as possible was in his best interest. No, he didn't really want to ditch Nyx, but it was obvious that she would risk just about anything to drop the hurt on the blonde she was tangling with, and chances were that Church would be unable to convince her to just cut and run while the going was still good.

And besides, every soldier in the immediate vicinity was distracted with the barbarian that was pulverizing them, so what better time to beat a hasty retreat than now? Surely, between that brute and Nyx, Church was the last thing on any of his enemy's minds.

Although he felt bad about abandoning Nyx in the middle of a fight, Church knew that her unreasonable aggression would only get them both captured again, if he chose to stay and assist her. He turned to Mirim, mentally debating if she would be safer with him keeping her head down in the alley. After remembering how much Elina had wanted to skewer him, it wasn't hard for Church to come to a decision.

"Alright Mirim: I'm getting out of here before some undesirables remember that I'm still around. Promise me that you'll stay here and out of the way. And if anyone asks, you had nothing to do with me, alright?"

Mirim gave a small nod, causing her short dark viridian bangs to swish. She seemed a little sad to see Church go, but she offered no argument. "I promise I'll stay out of trouble. But in return you'll have to come visit me at my new house sometime!"

Church refrained from pointing out that he would never know where Mirim and her family moved to, for the sake of a happy parting.

"Sure thing, kiddo. But you'd better have some good food waiting for me when I get there! That's part of the promise."

Mirim giggled and started to push Church out of the alley. Even she understood that he needed to get going as soon as possible. "Alright, I'll make sure my mom makes her signature dish for you! But it won't happen if you get caught again, so get going already!"

Church gave the girl one last pat on the head before turning to dash towards the unguarded town gate. He made sure to reiterate his promise before getting out of earshot.

"Thanks for everything Mirim! When I come to visit, I'll be sure to tell your mom how amazing you are! Have a nice move!"

Mirim gave a little goodbye wave in response. She couldn't help but think about what a strange man her new friend was, even as she scolded herself for thinking something sort of offensive about him as they parted ways.

On the other hand, Mirim wasn't the only one who took note of Church's flight. Elina caught sight of the man's ever dwindling figure as she flipped Nyx onto her head with substantial force, knocking the fire-wielding warrior out-cold. She had been a fool to fight Elina in close quarters, for she had little to no aptitude for that kind of combat.

Elina briefly considered taking the time to restrain her defeated opponent, but she knew that just those few seconds could be enough for the strange man in the red jacket to escape, and that was one thing she just wouldn't stand for. No one escaped from her. Especially not common filth like the man she rose to her feet to chase.

* * *

><p>Private Myles and his immediate superior, the Lance Corporal who he had manned the Vance border gate with, looked upon the scene before them with incredulous gazes.<p>

They had been transferred to Alabaster Town after it had been decided that they were at fault for intruders sneaking into Vance territory, and now they were faced with yet another situation they had definitely not signed up for.

Before them was a brutish thug of immense size, muscle-wise, who was maiming and bashing any soldier that came within arm's reach of him. At his feet, lying in every crumpled, broken pose imaginable was more than thirty Vance soldiers that had recently succumbed to his strength. Fortunately, Myles and the Lance Corporal stood a ways off, and had so far avoided detection by the human monster. That didn't stop Myles from shaking in his boots though.

The Lance Corporal merely stroked his manly moustache as he contemplated the situation, weighing duty against self-preservation. The answer to his dilemma became clear when a pummeled soldier came flying in their direction.

"You know, so long as it looks like we tried, they can't really blame us for avoiding this."

Myles looked over to his commander, surprised that he was talking of skirting their duty. "S-so we're retreating?"

The Lance Corporal picked up a fist sized rock and weighed it in his hand. "We're not retreating! We're advancing! Towards future victory!"

With that statement, which Myles was still struggling to make sense of, the LC lugged his rock at the enemy, and it made a clean hit against his back. Although it was a direct hit, the rock broke on impact and the barbarian didn't even notice. He was too busy pounding some other poor soul's face in.

"Do you know what the acronym for 'fear' is, Myles?"

"N-no sir…"

"Forget everything and run!"

* * *

><p>Church stopped at the open gate to the battle-afflicted town, and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. There was a noticeable throbbing in his left knee, and for the first time since the elven forest, Church was reminded of the physical handicap he possessed. Perhaps he had just not exerted himself for some time, or perhaps the healing Hachiel had cast upon him had something to do with it, but Church hadn't really felt any pain in his knee for weeks, until now.<p>

He knew he had to pause until his aching alleviated somewhat, but Church had no idea that those few seconds of rest would lead to yet more difficulties. He could hear the rapid approach of someone behind him, and judging by the speed and weight put into the steps, Church knew that whoever it was had nothing good in mind for him.

Church turned to face what was likely another threat, and was not surprised in the least when he was forcibly pinned to the stone wall of the gate by Elina. The strength she put behind the charge slammed Church into the hard surface hard enough to knock the wind out of him, and gave testament to how bent out of shape his adversary was.

"Ugh… damn you're persistent… kind of like Herpes…"

Church's reference to an old game he used to play as a teen went unappreciated by his attacker, but maybe Daedalus, if he were watching from afar, had gotten a laugh out of it.

In a mood that was certainly not jovial, Elina glared at her prey, intently focused on hurting him in ways that would have made Freddy Krueger cringe.

Church briefly noted that her eyes were a very similar shade to his own, but he quickly buried the useless detail in some miscellaneous locker in his mind. Although something like that may not have been as useless as he thought…

Exhausted, pinned, and subject to a deathly glare that told of impending suffering, Church was very low on options. But he was a firm believer in the 'there's always an answer' paradigm. He just had to run through his options before Elina decided to gut him with that metal gauntlet of hers.

Church didn't really have any hope of overpowering her in his current state. In fact, even if he weren't tired as hell and suffering from a painful throbbing in his knee, he still probably couldn't have beaten her with brute strength. It was also unlikely that he could talk his way out of his predicament. The angry vixen before him didn't seem like the type to be talked down.

His only other option was to distract or stun his opponent long enough for him to escape, but Church couldn't really see a way to do that… although he could feel one up.

Debating over the ethics of his upcoming tactics all the while, Church quickly formulated an escape plan that would have gotten him killed had Airi been there to see it. And he finished working out all of the details just in time: Elina's anger was just about to boil over.

Regardless of what Church thought of his move ethically, he knew he had no choice if he wished to escape this cat-like woman unscathed. Just in time to keep Elina from smashing his face in, Church raised his knee upward, pressing it into a very, _very_ sensitive spot. Even though he barely brushed the girl with the movement, Elina responded as he had expected her to, and reflexively shoved one of her hands in-between her legs to protect her body from its molester.

With only one hand holding Church down, he had enough breathing room to enact the step that would free him completely. He pushed himself forward as far as he could, and planted a French kiss right on Elina's lips. He wasn't overly eager to lose his first kiss to this psycho, but he knew nothing startled and stunned a girl like a surprise kiss attack.

And he was right. Elina pulled back in surprise, her other hand flying to her defiled lips. A deep scarlet blush came over her cheeks, but it was clear that half of the cause of it was actually fury, instead of embarrassment. Taking advantage of her stunned and startled state, Church grabbed Elina by the shoulders, this time employing a far less risqué technique. With no hope of outrunning the blonde once she recovered her composure, he had to put her out of commission for a while. It was just unfortunate that he would probably daze himself as well.

Church yanked Elina forward and slammed his forehead into hers, careful to avoid the cat ear head ornament she wore. A resounding crack bounced off of the stone walls, and Elina tumbled backwards, this time with both of her hands flying towards her head.

Fortunately for Church, the cybernetic implants of the Legion once again saved him from serious injury. Just like the time when he had miraculously survived the rock slide that had brought him to the Elven forest, his technologically hardened skeleton reduced the amount of pain he received from the double-edged attack.

Still, it wasn't like his bones were made of steel or anything, and Church still doubled over in pain himself. "Holy shit... that was a terrible idea!"

Either way, Church managed to rub some of the pain out of his head within a few moments, but Elina was not so lucky. Just as Church's significantly hardened skull protected him from serious harm, it did extra damage to Elina, who had blood trickling down her forehead as she squirmed in pain on the ground.

Not even sure that the poor girl would hear him in her suffering, Church still felt obliged to apologize for using such dirty tactics before making himself scarce.

"I'm really sorry about that! I just hate having to actually fight pretty girls!"

He kinda figured he should apologize specifically for molesting her to some extent, but he eyed some soldiers that had seen the incident approaching to check on their commander, and it was time for him to get lost.

Church said sorry one last time before running out onto the countryside roads as fast as he could, leaving behind Mirim, Nyx, a crazy brute, and a town that was far more trouble than the small meal he had gotten out of it was worth. Needless to say, he also left behind a seething, furious blond that would rip out his intestines the next chance she got, despite the fact that Church's compliment was not entirely lost on her.

* * *

><p><strong>I bet no one saw that coming… hell, I didn't even see that coming, it didn't hit me until I was 75% of the way through this chapter. Anyway, I guess that ended up being like… a mini-Nyx arc? Don't worry; she'll get some more show time later. I never actually intended for that God-forsaken town to be the setting for four damn chapters, but I guess my on-a-whim writing style gives birth to unexpected tangents.<strong>

**Now, I know **_**someone somewhere **_**is definitely going to have something to say about this chapter, so c'mon, don't keep it to yourself. Feedback may not be necessary, but it is certainly encouraging and beneficial to future updates.**


	28. The Journey Continues

**My internet has been down for a week plus, so even when I finally ****finished this chapter; I still couldn't publish it right away. Well ****for shame. Anyway during this internet absence, I have also published ****a Naruto fic, because I got into it these past couple of months and ****couldn't hold back my ideas, as usual. Naturally, it's hard for any ****anime fan to at least have not heard of Naruto, especially considering ****the fact that it's the largest anime category on the site, so if any ****of you are interested feel free to check that out. (And I'm proud to ****say that the main character is not Church, and the man's hair is not ****brown. Figured I'd break that OC stereotype).**

**I'm glad to say that some other QB characters are going to come into ****the spotlight in the next few chapters. I mean, Nanael and Tomoe are ****big favorites right? And I'm pretty sure Shizuka has a pretty big fan**  
><strong>base. (She'd better, after getting herself killed for her friend in <strong>**the anime!)**

**By the way, I really do appreciate the numerous reviews last chapter. ****It's been awhile since that much feedback has been received.**

* * *

><p>As a sniper, one of the skills Church had mastered was concealment. He knew how to disappear from view in under a minute, and he knew how to stay silent and still for hours on end, without moving a single muscle.<p>

However, he had not had to do anything like that for a long time, and although his skills had not grown rusty, his patience most certainly had.

At the moment, Church was lying face down in a ditch on the side of the road, with tufts of tall brown and green grass hiding him from prying eyes. He had removed his jacket and tucked it under his stomach, in an effort to hide its stark crimson red amidst the natural colors around him.

Church had figured that his risqué behavior concerning Elina earlier was a little out of line, even though it was necessary. But still, even Church hadn't expected an actual manhunt for four hours. Since he had escaped Alabaster Town and its turmoil, squads of Vance soldiers had been searching high and low for him. Even Elina herself had passed by Church's hiding spot at one point, unbridled rage (and unbeknownst to Church, a little bit of embarrassment) evident on her face as she tried to flush him out of the woods and tall grass surrounding the country roads, to no avail.

Of course, if the blonde witch was out and about searching for Church personally, then things in Alabaster Town must've been under control. Either the brawling brute Church had the bad luck to run into had been subdued, or Nyx had been captured, or both. Church was worried about Nyx: he wanted to go back into town and search for her, but right now he could do nothing but bury his face in the ground and hope to not be discovered. He could never hope to escape capture if he was found by a decently sized squad of soldiers, or even worse, Elina herself.

Even though Nyx's safety lay heavily on his heart, Church couldn't do anything for her at this point. He could only hope that she had escaped, and that he'd be able to assure himself of that at a later date.

So for now, Church could only reasonably concern himself with his own matters. And speaking of which, he was quite unhappy with said matters. Thirty minutes ago, it had started pouring rain, again, just like the time at Vance castle. Church was now convinced that being anywhere within fifty miles of that red-haired Valkyrie woman from the castle doomed you to inclement weather. Having been unable to move for the past four hours, Church was now soaked to the bone. But fortunately, the frigid drizzle from the heavens had also convinced the Vance soldiers looking for him to abandon their search. After all, a noble like Elina would never be caught in the rain like some common peasant, and as long as she wasn't around to supervise them, her soldiers were content to 'look' for Church, with almost palpable quotations around the term.

But although Church hadn't seen a soldier in at least twenty minutes, he was still staying completely still and silent. He knew he would be wise to wait at least thirty minutes before moving. Unfortunately, every minute he sat in this downpour was another minute he was freezing his ass off. His condition would only worsen if he stayed here for too long. And for that reason, he decided he would cut down that estimated wait time from thirty to twenty-five. Five more minutes could only hurt a little bit.

* * *

><p>Melona slowly stalked through the empty streets of Alabaster Town, albeit in the form of a common woman with bland brown hair and few distinctive features. Airi was somewhere in the sky above her, invisible to anyone without supernatural abilities of their own. With Airi's ability to gain a bird's eye vantage point in the sky, it had been easy to see that this small town had been engaged in some sort of trouble: and if there was one thing the two inhuman girls knew about Church, it was that trouble followed him everywhere.<p>

So with their limited time, they decided to check here for their lost companion. They had pushed the deadline for returning to the Swamp Witch for too long as it was and if they pushed it any farther, the repercussions could be… unpleasant. No matter how much the two of them wanted to find Church again, they couldn't risk the Swamp Witch deciding to dispose of them for being incompetent.

But Airi honestly wondered why they were trying so hard. Church was their friend, that much was true. But what would they do if they reunited with him? They were returning to the swamp soon, and bringing Church along would only put him in danger, as the Witch decided to either kill him for fun or enslave him to her service.

Naturally, Airi would never allow either of those to happen. The mere thought of dooming Church to that fate… it was inconceivable. Even the Witch's threat of returning Airi to Hades wasn't enough to make the wraith betray the man who had somehow wriggled his way into her heart.

That being the case, why were she and Melona even trying to find him? After all, they were heading to the swamp right after this. What was the point of finding Church to bring him along, if they were going to have to purposefully separate from him within a couple of weeks?

Just that thought alone weighed heavily on Airi's heart. Regardless of whether they found Church or not, this was the end of their time together… at least for a long time. That alone was far more depressing than Airi would have expected. She told herself she didn't feel for him on such a deep level, but even Airi couldn't deny her own growing feelings for the man. She might not call it love, not yet at any rate, but with how quickly her affections were growing, Airi admitted to herself that her thoughts and feelings regarding Church were growing drastically, and fast.

Below, Melona was thinking similar things, albeit without the second half of Airi's more flustering thoughts. Sure, she liked Churc:; he was fun to be around, and even Melona would admit that he was pretty cute. But her relationship with Church was little more than that of traveling companions. Even being generous, she wouldn't use the word friend.

At least that had been the case so far. With Church's latest disappearance, Melona had realized that she was feeling slightly different about him. The first time they had been separated from each other, Melona had missed Church more out of boredom than anything else. It was kind of a drag without him around to spice things up. But now, her concern actually encompassed a more… personal level.

She was genuinely worried about him, if only a little bit. It was a foreign feeling to the slime, who rarely felt sympathetic or concerned for others. She could only wonder what had sparked a shift in her behavior. Melona didn't know, but she found that the feeling of concern for another person wasn't actually as bad as she had convinced herself it was.

Either way, the two servant's respective thoughts aside, they were both feeling the familiar disappointment of failure. They had been searching the town for roughly thirty minutes, and since the settlement was so small, the two of them had already almost scoured the entire place. They had even investigated some of the inns, bars, and shops, yet there had been no sign of their lost companion and friend.

What there had been signs of throughout Alabaster Town was that of an intense struggle in the marketplace and the streets. There were copious amounts of blood in the marketplace, although all the bodies had been cleaned up at this point, and there was an unusually large crater near the town gates. Whatever had gone down here was definitely not the work of Church alone.

Their search efforts in vain thus far, Melona and Airi quietly slunk into an alley, careful to avoid the eyes of the rather large contingent of Vance soldiers here. Once they were safely hidden, Airi returned to the visible realm for Melona's sake. A pained expression of worry and disappointment was clear on her face.

"Why did this have to happen now? I knew we'd have to split eventually, but I didn't want it to be like this…the result of a  
>stupid accident."<p>

Melona felt ever so slightly the same, but she decided that she didn't want to admit that to Airi, for personal dignity if nothing else.

"Meh, it was gonna happen either way. At least like this we don't have to explain or deal with any fallout from him. We can just get on with our lives, y'know?"

Melona noticed how Airi's usually vibrant emerald eyes darkened at the slime's words. The scowl on the wraith's face deepened even further, although it was now clearly directed at her.

"Just get on with our lives? You say that as though Church was nothing more than a nuisance this whole time!"

A little angry that Airi had raised her voice at her, Melona continued to fuel the fire that she had inadvertently lit. "Wasn't he though? I mean, it's because of him that we're probably gonna get punished when we get back to the swamp! If we hadn't wasted our time constantly saving his ass, we'd still be on the Witch's good side! Even now we're wasting our fucking time!"

At this, Airi's countenance was not only filled with anger, but disbelief as well. "Are you serious, Melona!? Church was your friend, he cared about you! He-"

Melona cut off her embittered friend before she could continue. "He cared about _you_, Airi. You're the one who had the hots for him and he gave it right back! I was just the third wheel in the group: to him, I was just a friend of the girl he wanted to get it on with!"

Airi refrained from slapping the pink blob of goo before her, knowing that it would be pointless anyway. "That's a lie and you know it! You know damn good and well that he didn't just toss you on a lower tier like that! He concerned himself with you and I equally! He cared about you too, and you're spitting in his face by saying things like this!"

Melona's gelatinous body tensed at Airi's words and harsh tone, but she was equally angry, although the slime couldn't quite tell why. "If you're so hell-bent on finding your imaginary lover, do it yourself, Airi. I've got better things to do."

Airi ground her teeth in rage, knowing that she couldn't do anything to harm Melona without attracting every soldier in the town. That being the case, Airi turned on her heel to leave the alley, but not before whirling around and jabbing an accusatory finger at Melona.

"This whole situation is your fucking fault anyway, Melona! If you hadn't acted like a stupid bitch and jumped straight into a fight we couldn't win, this wouldn't have happened!"

The furious tone in Airi's voice froze any of the words Melona had to say back, more so out of astonishment than fear. Airi rarely ever lost her cool, and barely ever snapped like that. Since she was unable to say anything for the moment, Airi quickly took her leave, fading into her surroundings with a deep scowl marring her usually cheerful face.

Melona of course thought of something to say just after the maid left, although it turned out to be nothing but a muttered, "Fucking bitch…"

Nevertheless, everything Melona had just said replayed through her mind, spurred on by Airi's words, and for the first time Melona could remember in virtually forever, she was disgusted with herself.

* * *

><p>Sheets of cold rain fell from darkened skies as Church trudged along muddied ground. Having forsaken the idea of traveling through woods once more, he had gone in the opposite direction, towards a long expanse of grassland. He had no idea what direction he was going, or if he was stumbling towards civilization at all, but Church figured it was in his best interest to get away from Alabaster Town and any roads leading to it.<p>

Still, he had begun walking two hours ago, and there had been no end to the rain since. Not only that, but there had been no signs of civilization either. Needless to say, with nothing but Church's by now tattered casual clothing from New Eden, he was getting cold. Only his durable, waterproof jacket provided any protection from the elements.

As things stood now, Church was likely to get a case of hypothermia before he found shelter. In hindsight, he realized that the woods may have been a better path. At least the trees would have offered some cover from the rain.

Fortunately, it was now more of a drizzle than a downpour: but coupled with the rough winds of an area without many trees, the biting cold felt worse than it really was. Further adding to Church's problems, he didn't have any survival supplies with him. The only thing he did have was a relatively full belly, considering that he had eaten within the last twenty-four hours.

He could survive without food for longer than a week, but water was a different story. If Church didn't find some sort of settlement soon, he'd have to find a way to catch some of this rainwater. Unfortunately, without trees around, he wouldn't be able to gather any firewood, and without fire, it was impossible to purify it... bit if he had no choice, it wouldn't really matter anyway. He'd do what he had to.

This continuous stream of concerning thoughts made it easy for Church to lose himself in his mind while he walked straight and narrow through this seemingly endless plain of grass. The effect was so engrossing, that Church may have walked for minutes or hours by the time he finally noticed a difference in the surrounding landscape: he honestly couldn't tell.

What he had noticed was that the knee-high grass he was walking through had given way to a new type of footing: loamy soil, carved into rows and inter-spaced with ears of corn. Briefly confused by this change, Church looked up from the ground, where he had been staring for quite a while now, to look around the new area.

He found himself standing in what was obviously farmland, as much of the surrounding landscape was organized into plots for harvest. Church could spy rows of corn, potatoes, and many other crops for several acres around. Off to the left a bit was a small farmhouse, with a shed and a fenced-in area beside it.

Looking back the way he had come, Church saw nothing but the expanse of grass he had traversed. He was a little flummoxed as to why a farm  
>would be out here in the middle of nowhere: usually such places were near roads that led to villages or other such signs of civilization.<p>

Church caught himself thinking of these things, and berated himself for questioning his own good luck. Here was a farm, which no doubt had plenty of resources for him to tap into. Only a fool would look a gift horse in the mouth.

With a new found spring in his step, Church attempted to shrug off the cold, though he had minimal success, and headed towards the farmhouse a few hundred meters in the distance. He was careful to avoid stepping on the many crops between himself and his goal. Church briefly contemplated his approach: should he knock and ask for assistance, or merely take what he needed out from under their noses?

Church knew it would be unlikely for him to find everything he'd need without entering the farmhouse itself. After all, blankets and clean drinking water probably wouldn't be kept in the sheds outside, and sneaking into a farmhouse that no doubt housed many family members would be difficult. And besides, Church wasn't very keen on the idea of robbing a family for his own sake. These people out here probably had it tough enough already.

So for both practical and moral reasons, Church decided to go with the first course of action, and politely ask for aid. If the farmer turned out to be an asshole or stingy beyond reason, then Church would consider option two.

With the decision made, Church came up to the rough wooden door that was the portal between the outside and the farmhouse. Church was careful where he knocked, eying the many splinters in the rough hewn wooden door before him. He was in a foul mood as it was already, and the last thing he needed was a two-inch long splinter in his hand.

Having carefully avoided those 'deadly' spikes of wood, Church rapped on the door before him, praying that someone was home, although he couldn't imagine a farmer taking his family with him somewhere and leaving the place unattended. After all, if Church peeked around the corner of the home, he could see a fenced-in area with plenty of animals, even though they were all taking shelter from the rain beneath whatever they could find in their pen. The family here wouldn't just leave their animals completely unattended, right?

However, when no answer to his knock was forthcoming, Church was forced to reconsider. He found it hard to believe that this place would be completely devoid of residents… but last time he had checked with Airi, the Vance region wasn't exactly the most stable of places. After all, Mirim had told him that she herself would be moving with her family towards the Queen's Lands because of such civil and economic unrest in the area. If that was the case, then it wasn't that far-fetched to assume other families had moved as well.

Church turned away from the seemingly abandoned farmhouse, resigning himself to what he may have to do to the animals here to stave off his hunger. But before he took two steps into the still-going downpour of cold rain, Church heard the rough wooden door creak open behind him, gradually, as if whoever had opened the portal was anxious to discover who was on the other side.

Church turned back to face whoever had opened the door to greet him or her as politely as he could, in hopes of securing their good will. He was met with the charming face of a middle-aged, motherly looking woman with long, black hair that was beginning to gray ever so slightly. Her warm brown eyes were filled with worry, although Church could tell it wasn't because of his presence. As soon as this woman saw that Church was not a soldier to collect extortionate taxes for the umpteenth time, a gentle, welcoming smile graced her features.

"Oh dear, you look cold out there. Why don't you come in? I just finished making dinner."

Church was taken aback by the sudden generosity. This woman knew nothing about him, yet she was already offering a great deal. "Ma'am, I can't ask you to do that: I wouldn't want to impose on your time with your family. I only need some water…"

The woman cut him off with a no-nonsense, and more importantly, no backtalk tone. "Don't think you can get off so easily. You look soaked and cold and I can't in good conscience let you leave here without helping you out. Come on in now, I promise we don't bite. I won't even be able to sleep tonight if I don't at least set you up for wherever you're going."

Church tried unsuccessfully to suppress a grateful smile. He had met people with such cheerful and kind dispositions a few times throughout his life, but he never really got used to them. Their overly-kind, generous, and friendly attitudes were just so… alien, almost. In a world were cruelty and cold-hearted indifference reigned supreme, it was almost as if kindness to an extent like this was a true rarity.

"Alright, but you'll have to promise me that you'll let me pay you back somehow. After all, if I don't return your extreme kindness, then the guilt will keep me from a good night's sleep for years."

The older woman nodded with a knowing smile, beckoning for Church to come in with a wave of her arm clad in a long brown woolen dress. It must have been a little nippy inside as well. Church had to remind himself that he was currently in an era that didn't have indoor heating.

Still, this wasn't any situation to be complaining about. Church gave a grateful smile to the motherly-looking woman in the doorway and proceeded to follow her into her home, making a conscious effort to shake as many droplets of water from his form as he could before doing so, although it did little good.

Stepping inside, Church immediately found himself in a small, narrow hallway. The left side of the hallway ended in little more than a dead end, with a small coat rack that was mostly occupied, although Church found a little space on the end to hang his soaked crimson red jacket. He made sure to kick his shoes off as well, lest he track mud in the house of his gracious hostess.

Having done so, he turned to the right, seeing that the relatively short hallway led right into the living room: or he at least assumed it was so, since there was a hearth in there, complete with blazing orange flames warming the house to the best of its abilities.

Church followed the woman who had let him into her home into the next room, feeling more than a little awkward at being invited into a complete stranger's home. She was awfully trusting of him, considering that he himself had been a stranger on her doorstep, which just so happened to be miles from any towns. Church would've expected this woman to at least be a little suspicious… but some people just didn't have that in their nature. It was a curse at times, being too trusting, but it also made them incredibly friendly, and by extension, a boon to others.

Church felt a slight pang of trepidation as he stepped into the living room, expecting to find the rest of the family within, ready to openly stare at the intruder in their home. Strangely, he found no such thing, as the living room, with a few rocking chairs and fur mats lying around to insulate the place, was empty. He supposed the family could have been dispersed throughout the house... after all, kids liked their privacy and Church assumed that the parents had their own things to do as well.

Then again, this woman could've been living alone, but considering the decent size of this house, not to mention the labor that would be necessary to manage the farm assets outside, led Church to believe otherwise.

The estranged man was broken out of his thoughts as the woman ahead of him called up a set of stairs Church had just now noticed.

"Sera? We have a guest for dinner, and the food is almost ready. Why don't you come down, sweetie?"

Finished with her call, the dark-haired woman moved into the kitchen, directly connected to the living room. Curious himself, Church paused for a moment to glance up the wooden stairs in hopes of catching a glimpse of the person that had been called. However, he quickly realized how strange it would be for a woman to come down the stairs only to find a strange man expectantly staring up at her.

Perhaps it was this kind of stupidity that always ticked Airi off when she dealt with him? Shaking his mind of those thoughts, to avoid criticizing himself and to keep his focus away from someone he sorely missed, Church followed his hostess into the kitchen.

It was a rather plain room, with almost every piece of furniture made out of oak wood or something similar. There was a counter with an old fuel-burning stove and a rather dinky looking sink off to the right, and a rough circular wooden table with four chairs spaced around it in somewhat even intervals.

Beyond that, there was a lamp hanging from a hook on the wall, providing what little faint light there was in here. It was simple living, through and through: nothing like the luxury and comfort available to just about everyone on New Eden, although that was because there were a lot less residents to supply than pre-NOVA Earth. Cataclysmic events tended to have that effect, diminishing the population and all.

His hostess motioned for Church to head back into the living room and sit beside the fire while she finished preparing the final touches on dinner. Although he still felt awkward and out of place, Church could find no reason to not do so. He just hoped his stay here wouldn't be a long one: regardless of how well he handled himself with strangers, Church knew he would feel uncomfortable for the entire time he stayed here.

* * *

><p>Shrouded in the natural darkness of a looming residential building in Alabaster Town, Nyx did her best to treat the significant wounds she had received from her melee with Elina the previous day. She had been rendered unconscious after foolishly fighting hand-to-hand with the tiger bitch, but had awoken to find her nowhere in sight.<p>

Deciding to take advantage of that blessing, Nyx had disappeared from the battlefield before her enemy could return, or before a contingent of soldiers too large for her to handle decided to come after her as one.

Nyx was by no means satisfied with running from Elina yet again, as she had when she was a child, but her defeat had drained her of energy, and even with Funikura, her chances of beating Elina while tired were slim.

Besides, in a fist-fight with a girl who basically had a claw on one hand, major wounds were inevitable. Currently, Nyx had the slight gouges in her neck where Elina had choked her, a shallow but painful gash across her abdomen, and a burning scratch on the outside of her right thigh. Beyond that, she was covered in bruises and scrapes, but none of those wounds would be fatal.

Having been unconscious for at least a few minutes, Nyx had already lost a decent amount of blood before she had even awoken. After that, it had taken her at least ten to escape from the field of battle. With that passage of time, Nyx had lost a significant amount of her precious life-giving liquid: although it wasn't enough to cripple her or kill her, she felt weak and her skin was rather pale, as compared to its usually lustrous tone.

Still, even in her weakened state, she had managed to staunch the bleeding and bandage herself with scraps from the waitress outfit she had been wearing for her job at the bar. While her medical knowledge was limited, Nyx had long ago learned how to survive on the streets, before she had found Funikura, and before she had risen out of the shadows of abuse and neglect.

Of course, Nyx knew she'd have to find a real doctor sooner than later. Even though her injuries wouldn't scar thanks to Funikura's mysterious demonic energy, for which she was grateful, the open wounds, especially the one across her stomach, would require further medical attention.

But for now, roughly a day after the fiasco that the town had been embroiled in, her condition was more or less stable, and all she really wanted to do was rest and collect her thoughts.

She had lost, quite shamefully too, having barely caused any damage to Elina at all throughout their entire fight. No doubt Funikura was displeased about that, but even the hellish monster knew that punishing Nyx with its usual methods in her current state would be severely damaging. For now the evil staff just glared at his wielder disdainfully, even while it hungrily gazed at her body with its single crimson eye.

Nyx on the other hand, was almost completely oblivious to Funikura's displeasure. Her mind was reeling with events from the previous day, and the significant blood loss was making her just a little loopy. It was hard for her to focus on the present, and far easier to just rest her head against the wall behind her and remember the past instead.

A man had actually stood up for her: to a soldier, and an officer, no less. Nyx was no stranger to abuse, having spent most of her childhood at Elina's beck and call, not to mention spending the second half of her life being viewed as some clumsy ditz by every half-drunk asshole around. It had taken considerable effort on her part to not just use Funikura and its gifts to incinerate people that treated her like trash, but Nyx was acutely aware of the hunt that would follow her actions when news spread of a 'fire-wielding witch.'

No, she had endured the torment of just about every man she had ever met, and had long ago labeled most if not all men as lecherous, sadistic bastards hardly worth the beer they guzzled down by the gallon. But then this one man, in weird clothes of a foreigner she had never seen, had shattered her stereotype, built throughout the years in an instant.

He had seen her as something other than eye candy, or some sort of toy. He had actually intervened on her behalf just because someone else was treating her poorly. Maybe he had just been itching for a fight. He may have just found the disturbance in the bar annoying, and sought to silence it. Or maybe he had just thought the pretty girl would fall at his feet for saving her.

Somehow Nyx knew none of those were true. Whatever it was, whether it was the tone of his voice when he asked her if she was okay or the look of genuine concern in his eyes when he looked upon her, she couldn't tell, but somehow Nyx knew that the man who had come to her rescue did it because he was a good person. An incredibly good-looking good person.

And sure, he had fled the fight yesterday, but now that she had calmed down considerably, even Nyx had to admit that her recklessness with Elina could've cost both of them their lives, so his actions then were justified, and she wasn't angry about it.

The only other thing she knew for certain right now was that this was the first time she had ever thought of a man in a distinctly positive way: so much that she even had to admit to herself that she probably had a crush on this guy she had known for just a handful of hours, made all the more unbelievable by the fact that she didn't even know his name.

Lost in her dreamy thoughts, Nyx was completely oblivious to the glaring eye of Funikura, none too happy that his host had gained faith in something else besides itself.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I was planning on making this just a little bit longer, but I <strong>**just don't have time at the moment, and if I wait it will be another ****two or three days until I can update again. It's been awhile, so I ****would prefer to update sooner than later.**

**I don't know when the next update will be, but I'll try to work on it ****as fast as possible. Ope you guys enjoy this installment, even though****it is devoid of any action. I guess it was mostly a character**  
><strong>development chapter.<strong>


	29. Forward We March

**I feel like the last update wasn't all that long ago, but that is most likely just me making an excuse for avoiding the effort needed to write the next chapter. It'll be wonderful and all worth it when this story finally reaches its end, but until that point it's just a lot of hard work with a small community to back me up! But as there is no rest for the weary, I must sally forth. (And yes, I can use the words sally forth because I would never say them in casual conversation).**

* * *

><p>It may have just been Church's own delusions, but as he sat silently awaiting a most generous dinner from his hostess, he felt as though things hadn't been so quiet in ages.<p>

For the first time in a long while, he wasn't being mauled, stabbed, grappled, beaten, or threatened, and he had to admit that it felt pretty good. On the flip-side, Church realized that this lull in his recently exciting life was because of the absence of any dangerous or mentally unstable females from his immediate vicinity.

Without Airi's general hostility towards perverted thoughts, Melona's insatiable hunger for the spice of life, or the volatile vices of girls like Elina and Nyx, things had calmed down considerably. Church had to admit that sitting here quietly awaiting the third guest for dinner was even more peaceful than his time in the forest with Alleyne and Nowa. Even there, he had either been undergoing rigorous physical therapy or intensive conditioning for his throw-down (beat-down would probably be a better word) with Echidna almost every day. And being anywhere near the angel duo was just asking for trouble.

Yes, for once it was nice to just sit somewhere and not worry about life-threatening situations of the near future or, even better, about how to disengage yourself from the pink bunny girl begging you to do something ludicrous for her own amusement.

Either way, the current peace of mind was bittersweet, as Church was well aware that it only existed because he was separated from people he cared about. After all, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Airi and Melona since Vance Castle, and when he had last seen them, neither was in very good shape.

Still, Daedalus had assured him that both of his friends were OK, and for now that would have to suffice, although being unable to stealthily gawk at Airi's beautiful hair and Melona's beautifully under-clad body was a major blow to his happiness.

In an attempt to shake off the dismal thoughts of being separated from the numerous beauties he had come to know and love (or at least grow fond of, in the cases of people like Echidna, Nanael, and Nyx), Church returned his attention to his current situation, which included waiting for someone to make their way to the kitchen table so that he could take advantage of his hostess' wondrous generosity. Honestly, how much did a girl have to do to prepare for dinner? What was the holdup?

His half-hearted grumbling aside, Church was honestly just glad to have a positive turn of events befall him for once. Oh sure, Mirim had rescued him that time the other day, but that was hardly enough to make up for all of his bad luck. He needed more lucky breaks if he was going to stay in one piece in this crazy world.

In all honesty, it was better to just take what he could get.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the troubled lands of the realm, a peculiar array of elves was traipsing about the woods that surrounded a human settlement they had decided to skirt. Awkward was the best word to describe the four-man troupe, and that had been the case ever since Lucas had become an active member of the party. Every hour of every day consisted of a tense standoffish atmosphere between the estranged boy and his peers, which consisted of his ex-mentorbig sister figure, an old instructor whom he held bitter resentment for, and the girl of his dreams who he had secretly admired yet also envied to no end.

Needless to say, few words had been spoken among the four travelers for quite some time, as Lucas had to denote almost all of his energy to controlling his raging anger and avoid whirling on Echidna and attacking her, despite the futility of such a thing. None of the three ladies of the group wanted to say anything that would set the boy off, because the older two knew that things would turn ugly fast, and the younger was afraid to accidentally incite something unwittingly.

After all, it was a well-known fact that Lucas despised both Echidna and Alleyne: the only thing keeping him from trying to kill Echidna or ditch the group altogether was Nowa's presence there. He knew that his unrequited crush would never abandon her beloved teacher, especially for him, which only served to embitter the boy even further, regarding the buxom blond combat master he already loathed so much. He would never understand how Nowa could be so blind to the unfairness and numerous faults of her instructor, but he attributed her devotion to naivety and innocence, instead of believing that his crush could love someone he hated. Delusion at its finest.

Honestly, Echidna would rather just ditch the boy somewhere before he caused some sort of group conflict, or better yet, take him aside alone at some point to settle things for good. The only problem with that was that Echidna knew Lucas would try to 'settle' things by attacking her, and she was reluctant to hurt the boy even in the name of self-defense. Keeping him within Nowa's sight and therefore within her influence was the only way to keep Lucas from doing something drastic, and more importantly, keeping the Calibara Elf from having to do anything to harm him.

She truly wished there was some way she could reconcile with her once-upon-a-time charge, but he would never accept her paltry excuses for having abandoned him: hell, she herself even recognized how pathetic her reasons were for ditching Lucas all those years ago. If only she could have made a different decision then, things today would be so different...

But she hadn't, and they weren't. Things were what they were, and it was far too late to change them now. Far too late. As the group continued on in tense silence, not really sure where they were going but sure that they were going somewhere, Echidna stared into Lucas' back, remembering a time when the only expression he ever had to offer her was a smile. Far too late indeed.

* * *

><p>Man must always wrestle with logic and primal urge, but Church had never really felt it so pronounced as it was right now. The third member of the dinner party had <em>still <em>not made it to the table, and now that he had been sitting there for ten minutes, Church was inwardly battling between the notions of being polite and urging his hostess to let him eat.

Apparently his distress was a bit more visible than he knew, because said hostess offered a warm and knowing smile as she brushed her dark black hair out of her eyes. "A bit more hungry than we let on, hm?"

Church felt a little embarrassed about being so easy to read, but he brushed it off with a small chuckle. "I suppose so. I really can't thank you enough for treating me to this. It is very kind of you ma'am."

The motherly woman's smile widened by a few inches. "Please, call me Rachel. There's no need for formalities."

"Ah, uh... well then, my name is Church. Thank you for having me in your home, Rachel."

Rachel noticed Church's awkward fidgeting as she asked him to call her by her first name, eliciting a giggle from her. "My my, you really are just like him..."

As Rachel settled herself into one of the chairs at the table, Church refrained from asking about 'him.' The wistful tone in her voice was more than enough for the sensitive soldier to recognize a touchy subject.

Seemingly eager to draw the conversation away from that topic either way, Rachel continued on with something unrelated. "I do apologize for my daughter being so slow to arrive. She suffers from... chronic shyness, I would say. She's very skittish around strangers and tends to avoid contact with them if she can."

Church felt guilty for even being irritable about the wait now that such a telling detail had been revealed. Now he even felt like _he _was in the wrong here, for making a member of the host family uncomfortable at her own table.

"I could eat somewhere else, if it really bothers her so much. Maybe out in the hall or something?"

His lone companion waved off his suggestion with an airy gesture. "There's no need for that. She'll make her way down here eventually, and I think she'll be just fine after a few minutes around you. After all, you are a lot like her brother, and he's her absolute favorite person in the world. She'll probably warm up to you after a while."

Church smiled knowingly. "Yeah, I have a sister who is probably one of my most favorite people in the world too. I wouldn't trade her for anything."

Church was immediately saddened by the thought of Mission, who he hadn't seen in months now. Daedalus had assured him that she was OK, along with the rest of Onyx Squad, but his brotherly instincts just wouldn't let him _not _worry. Apparently he sounded a bit more wistful than he had intended, because his hostess most definitely caught his tone.

"I'm sorry if I brought up something unpleasant..."

Church waved her off. "It's alright: she's still around to berate me for every little thing, we've just been separated for awhile, that's all. I'm just feeling a bit of sibling loneliness, y'know?"

"Well, I may not know about sibling loneliness, but I certainly do know about maternal. My son has been away for months now, serving the Vance military, although not quite willingly, with the draft and all."

Knowing just how stressful being a soldier away from home was, Church felt he needed to ask about her son's safety. "Have you heard from him lately? As far as I know, there hasn't been any war going on between Vance and some other power..."

Rachel nodded. "He wrote us a letter about a week ago, something about how he and his commanding officer almost 'got fried by the Thundercloud General at the gates.' I do hope it wasn't his usual clumsiness that angered her so..."

Church let out a slight chuckle, reminded of a time when his drill sergeant had nearly bitten his head off for a similar offense. "Let me guess: this enlistment is fairly recent, right?"

A nod preceded his answer. "Yes, it's only been a few months... how did you know?"

"From personal experience, I know a thing or two about rookies ticking off their superiors."

Rachel grinned at hearing that, as her hazel eyes took on a glint of curiosity. "Oh, are you a soldier as well? You seem awfully young for that... although I suppose my son is quite young as well: maybe even a bit younger than you are."

Church wondered how he could explain his profession in a sensible way to this woman. He obviously couldn't tell her that he was a commando for an elite international spec ops unit in an alternate world. That would certainly be confusing.

"I'm uh... I was drafted into Vance's armies once too."

Church saw his hostess' grin falter slightly at the mention of his alleged allegiance. She was obviously not fond of Vance in any way. He figured he would go ahead and further his lie to allay her fears.

"But I deserted a long time ago, after deciding that their values were a bit sketchy."

For the first time this night, Rachel dropped her cheerful, chipper tone to scoff. "A bit? Those greedy, selfish, vain nobles and their corrupt armies are the worst sort. If they aren't confiscating whatever they please in the name of security, they're exploiting their tax-gathering rights by constantly increasing the damn number..."

It looked as though she were about to continue her little tirade, but at that point Rachel glanced towards the entrance to the kitchen and stopped speaking, probably to protect the innocent ears of who had appeared there.

"Oh, Sera! Dinner is ready dear, are you hungry?"

Church followed Rachel's gaze to her daughter, who stood at the doorway to the kitchen, hiding more than half of her small frame behind the wall. Like her mother, she had pitch-black hair that fell down to her slim waist, although the young girl, probably only twelve or so, sported long bangs that she could hide her eyes behind if she lowered her head. Her simple attire consisted of a linen shirt with equally coarse-looking pants.

"..."

Sera made no move to sit at the table, instead casting a wary, timid look towards the stranger in her home and seeming to shrink in on herself even further than she already had. Deciding that it would be best to avert his gaze, Church did exactly that, hoping to diffuse the shyness this girl exhibited so strongly. Meanwhile, Sera's mother tried to gently coax her in.

"Don't worry dear. This is Church: he's a soldier and very kind, just like Myles."

Her mother's comparison of Church to her brother seemed to lessen Sera's anxiety a little, but it was minuscule at best. She still looked like a deer in headlights, about to bolt at the slightest noise.

Rachel cast a brief glance over at her guest, giving him a silent nudge towards saying something that might help alleviate the tension in her daughter's coiled body.

Getting the hint, Church put on the most gentle and kind smile he could muster before turning towards Sera, although he avoided staring right into her eyes. "Hello Sera. It's very nice to meet you: thank you for having me in your home, you and your mother are very generous."

His considerate tone and words seemed to lessen the girl's timidity, if only by a small margin. But before she could either retreat to her room or accept dinner of her own free will, Sera's stomach let out an audible grumble. Her obvious hunger compiled with her slight acceptance of the elephant in the room, at least for her, urged the girl towards her seat at the table, opposite from Church and beside her mother.

Now that the present family was all seated, Church didn't know if he should begin eating or not. But the question was answered for him when Rachel held out her hands to both Church and Sera, the latter grabbing a hold of the proffered hand. Seeing that, Church gradually did the same, only mildly uncomfortable with it. Having acquired the hands the others, Rachel bowed her head and closed her eyes, and Church caught on quickly.

_What a traditional family...I can't say I don't like it._

* * *

><p>"Why does this keep happening to us?"<p>

Nanael grumbled aloud to Hachiel as the two angels soared through the open skies over the Continent. After the whole blowout at Vance castle, the two of them had lost track of their quarry yet again, and had still not managed to wring a single useful tidbit of information from him. Their mission so far had been the epitome of unsuccessful, and the Seraph had made her displeasure known after recalling them a few hours ago.

In short, only Hachiel's presence had kept her partner and friend safe at all. She was well known as an efficient and competent worker, so when she told the Head Angel that there had been difficulties, she had been believed. If Nanael had been the one to say that, it would have been nothing more than an excuse in the eyes of her superiors.

Hachiel's golden eyes roamed over the heavy rainstorm someway off in the distance. Through heavenly divination, they knew that their target was over there somewhere, but as a general rule, flying through inclement weather was a bad idea. Even though a bolt of lightning wouldn't kill an angel, it would be a far cry from a pleasant sensation.

"It's probably you, Nanael, forever cursed with bad luck."

Hachiel's blue haired companion stuck her tongue out at her, not amused by the dry humor. Hachiel loosed a slight giggle: despite her serious, business-like attitude, she had a fun side as well.

"I guess we could always land and walk there, but..."

Nanael finished the sentence for her, albeit in a far more brusque way. "But that would be a miserable pain in the ass. Besides, can't we just wait for the storm to pass and then go get him? It's not like we'll lose him, the Witch's swamp is the only place he could hide from us."

Hachiel pondered the suggestion briefly before nodding. "I suppose so. And on these plains, he'll be easy to find either way. We have to be sure to restrain him this time, even though it hasn't really been his fault that he keeps getting away from us."

Nanael's nose crinkled in distaste. "Yeah right, I bet he's been planning and plotting these escapes every time. He's obviously in league with the Witch's pet monkeys, he's in on all of it!"

Hachiel was amused by the expression, letting a brief grin cross her face. "He has absolutely no knowledge of those two's true nature remember? And his memories are completely devoid of anything related to the Witch in any way."

In a truly rare instance, a miracle really, Nanael's face was graced with an expression of contemplation. "Yeah, but you said some of his memories were shielded: actually, you said you couldn't read anything past a few months ago. He could have done _anything _before that, who's to say what it could be?"

If anything had been in Hachiel's flight path, she probably would have smacked into it, because she was too busy gawking at Nanael in shock and awe instead of watching ahead of her. Nanael cocked an eyebrow at her friend's look.

"What?"

"What you just said was actually a reasonable, intelligent, astute observation!"

"What are you trying to say?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Heaven's number one dunce?"

Nanael frowned before jerking a thumb back at her pathetically small right wing.

"Still me, you jerk!"

Hachiel burst out laughing, which made for a very interesting sight as she flew through the air while her body twisted in humorous contortions. Nanael quickly broke out into a smile as well, glad that Hachiel was the only person who would only ever mention her deformity in jest, and always saw her for her: even if 'her' was just a clumsy, incompetent, useless excuse for an angelic being. Sometimes Hachiel's support was the only thing that kept Nanael going.

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><p>"If you don't mind me asking, how exactly do you manage out here? As far as I can tell, your home is very far from any other settlements."<p>

Church made sure to only ask his questions in between mouthfuls of food, for the sake of being polite, and also because the homemade meal of corn, bread, and chicken soup was delicious. Most of his food lately had been from less than quality sources.

Rachel nodded in understanding, fully aware of the seemingly obvious isolation of her home. "We are pretty far from the nearest town, but there is a crossroad about a mile away that leads to several towns, so we aren't really so bad off. It's just a little more difficult without Myles here to help us load the wagon and help with the horses and all..."

Making the most obvious assumption, Church swallowed another bite of food. "Myles is your son, right?"

Rachel nodded once again. "He's only been away for a few months, but without him, moving around heavy stuff is a bit harder. Sera and I are hard-pressed every time we have to go to town for a market day, and then we have to leave the farm unattended the whole time... but we're so far from other settlements that no one really bothers us out here."

Church refrained from asking about a father: it was clear enough that he wasn't around, for whatever reason. It would be better to let sleeping dogs lie. "Well, no one to bother you but me, right?"

Rachel huffed out her cheeks in mock disapproval. "Oh come now, you're hardly a bother! You're the first guest we've had in awhile, and I for one am happy to have you!"

From the corner of his eye, Church could see Sera nod very slightly in accordance with her mother. She hadn't said anything at the table yet, but she seemed to have grown slightly more comfortable listening to the other two table occupants throughout their conversation. Apparently Church really was a bit like her beloved older brother, at least enough to make her the tiniest bit more fond of the stranger in her home.

"Well I'm glad to be in the company of such lovely ladies. By the way, is there going to be another market day soon? I would be more than happy to help..."

Rachel shook her head sadly. "Well, there is, but one of the spokes on the wagon is shattered, and until we fix that, we aren't going anywhere."

Church's response was immediate. "Could I somehow help with that?"

Church was surprised when the one who answered him was not Rachel, but her daughter. Her voice was a light squeak, timid and shy through and through. "We... don't have the parts..."

Strangely, Church found himself happy to have evoked some sort of action out of the girl. "I see. How do you plan to go about fixing that? If you can't get to town and need replacement parts that can only be acquired in town..."

It was like a circle of can't-dos and difficulties. Having their son away must have really thrown a wrench in the works around here.

Sera declined saying anything this time, so Rachel spoke up again. "Unfortunately, none of the nearby towns really has a blacksmith. Sure, there are a few people that try and hammer out something decent once in awhile, but the spoke would probably break within a month of replacing it."

"Sounds like it isn't even worth considering."

Rachel sighed as she took her empty plate to the sink. "Exactly. What we did instead was order from an experienced and respected blacksmith from a distant town, but we received a letter a little while ago: apparently she finished it in no time, but the merchant who was supposed to bring it over suddenly refused to cross the border into Vance territory, spouting some hogwash about tension between the Queen and the Count. It's a real mess..."

The older woman ran a hand through her dark hair as she began to wash her plate, letting out another defeated sigh as she did so. Not quite done with his own plate, Church continued to eat, pondering how he could help resolve this family's current dilemma. However, most of his ideas quickly ran into dead ends, and he was left with little else to do but feel bad because he couldn't be of more help.

Church was dragged out of his contemplative thoughts when the youngest occupant of the household spoke up again, her voice barely loud enough for Church to notice that anything had been said.

"If Myles were here... he could do it. He could go out and get it..."

Sera's mother looked back at her youngest child wistfully, clearly missing her son herself. However, Church now saw a way for him to repay his current debt. "What if I did it? I could ride out to this town and bring the package back to you."

The look in Rachel's brown eyes screamed no before her mouth even opened. "Absolutely not! That town is very far from here, and a round trip like that would take the better part of a month! I could never ask you to go out of your way like that! You'd have to cross the border and everything!"

Church frowned at hearing that, not because he was really miffed about being denied his chance to help, but more so because the whole trip really would be awfully out of the way. He was still dead-set on locating his friends somewhere: after all, Airi and Melona had to be around _somewhere_, and if he left Vance territory, his chances of finding them would probably be slimmed down even further than they already were. He didn't really have a month to waste.

He wasn't really sure why it happened, but suddenly a very bitter tangent squirmed its way to the forefront of Church's mind.

Why were his chances of finding those two so slim? Because they didn't tell him anything. They didn't let him know where they were planning to go, what their goals were, what they were doing, or anything of real significance. They had left him completely in the dark, and that being the case, Church had no leads for finding them.

_This whole damn thing is their fault anyway! If they had just told me something, anything, things wouldn't be this way!_

Church caught himself before he sunk any further in his new bitter feelings. Maybe things were actually his fault. He had been the one to ignore Airi's request about staying put, venturing into enemy territory for self-gratification. But then again, maybe things would have turned out worse without him: after all, it was because of him that Nanael had intervened on Airi and Melona's behalf, despite how much she hated doing so.

In the end, Church decided that it was nobody's fault in particular. It was just a crazy twist of fate, screwing with him like it always did. And what could he do about it besides keep on moving?

Airi and Melona were out of his reach, that was a fact. Anyone else he would call friend in this world was who knows where. For now, he was on his own, and that meant he had to do what he would always do in any given situation: be himself.

"What if I go to the town, and organize a new method for transport back? Maybe hire a different merchant or something? That way the trip is cut in half."

Rachel frowned, though she couldn't deny that it was a good idea. "That's still an awful lot of work to pile onto you just as payback for a meal. I can't ask you to do that."

Church flashed his hostess a smile right before lying through his teeth. "It's fine, I'm heading out of Vance territory anyway, so it's not as much as a detour as you think. Besides, I'm more than happy to help you out. It's the least I can do for such a kind family."

It looked as though Rachel wanted to protest further, but she clearly knew that without Church's help, she and her little girl were in a bit of a sticky situation. If he was so willing to help and he insisted that it wasn't much of a detour, who was she to refuse him?

"Are you absolutely sure? I don't want you to feel obligated to do this just because of dinner..."

Church waved her off. "I'm positive. And don't even think about paying me for the trouble. I'm doing this because I want to help, not for profit."

Rachel studied the man before her, struck with his uncanny resemblance to her son: if not physically, then in character. With a sigh of resignation, she nodded.

"Alright then, I'm truly grateful for your help. It means a lot to me that you can be so selfless for our sake. Still, I'm not going to let you walk there, so we'll loan you one of our horses: she doesn't have much to do around here during the off-season anyway. Don't worry, you can send her back with the merchant who accepts the job, it won't be any trouble at all."

Her plan made sense, and Church was relieved to know that he would be able to get away from all of this pesky hiking for awhile. This was the first step to continuing his journey, even though he had no idea where he was going.

"Great, sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p>"Are we lost Shizuka?"<p>

"No way. Of course we aren't! I'm absolutely sure that Gainos is that way!"

"I don't know... something seems off... isn't the Amara desert on this side of the Continent?"

"Not all maps are perfect, Tomoe-sama, I'm sure it's only a little bit off. Gainos is to the North, I'm sure of it!"

Somewhere in the exact _opposite _direction of the two floundering visitors from the East, Aldra sneezed into the book she was reading on military strategy, completely unaware that someone had deduced that her capital was on the wrong end of the Continent.

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><p><strong>Well, this certainly took awhile, and again, it was mostly talking. But hey, character development = more in-depth plot later down the road. Do you know how far this story is in terms of completion? Under thirty percent! If only I could afford to drop some of my other stories...<strong>

**Anyway, remember that reviews or PM feedback is good for morale! Without support I'll eventually become cold and impervious to damage... and _love._**


	30. POLICY CHANGE

**This notice is going up on ALL of my major stories. Over the past few months, I've realized a few things. One, very few people actually care to give feedback or constructive criticism to the writer. They either don't think it's worth the time or the effort or something. Second, writing my stories in a cycle is painfully boring. So starting today, I'm making a new story policy. **

**I hate to be like some of those review whores out there, but it seems incentive is the only way to get feedback from a decent amount of people. (For those of you who do so regularly, you have my sincere, humblest thanks for offering your insight or encouragement to writers who only get paid in gratitude). From now on, I WILL NOT update a story until its latest chapter has been reviewed a minimum of five times. Just five. Not ten, or twenty, or something ridiculous, but just five. **

**For some of you, such as the wonderful Beautiful Chaos readers, this is no problem, because you guys are so awesome, so dedicated, so downright badass, that you faithfully review every chapter! Because you're fucking awesome! Readers of Beyond the Stage are pretty damn good about being vocal as well, so you won't have anything to worry about. **

**But for some of you others, you readers of Conscription of Fate and The Exeter Project, sometimes things stall completely. For instance, the last Exeter Project chapter? Barely and feedback at all, and what I did get was from an online friend of mine on a PM. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you guys are vocal and generous enough to talk to me, but just as often very few people do. **

**This also offers a new aspect of writing for me. I have A LOT of incomplete stories, and numerous more planned in my mind. Sometimes I think about dropping the ones few people seem to appreciate. I don't want to, because I personally enjoy a lot of the stories I come up with, but why write something that very few people seem to REALLY care about, like The Exeter Project, when loyal and waiting fans of stuff like Beautiful Chaos are actually eager to let me know what they think? They clearly deserve to have what they want updated first. **

**And here we come to, what I think, is the best part of this whole thing. It almost adds a competitive twist to what I do. As the readers, I've given you a bit more power. If you want a certain story updated sooner than the others, then you can throw your weight behind it, pushing its update time forward. Maybe you read more than one of my stories, and you personally would prefer to have one of them updated before the other? Well now you can influence that, and I think that's great, personally. **

**As we stand currently, Beautiful Chaos is being updated next. Those awesome sons-of-bitches deserve it. Following that is Conscription of Fate. As for Beyond the Stage, they_ would_ need two more reviews, but I may cut them some slack since the fan base is a bit small. At the moment, The Exeter Project isn't going anywhere. If you guys actually give a shit about the story continuing, you'd better let me know. Writing something worthwhile and meaningful isn't easy work. It takes time, effort, and quite a bit of motivation. I'm not gonna continue something that readers seemingly don't care all that much about. **

**So in short, the more YOU care, the more I care. If Beautiful Chaos gets the minimum review amount for every chapter but no other story does, then damn, I'll update Beautiful Chaos over and over and over until it's done. Whichever story has the most amount of people who actually give a damn about where it's going, the sooner it gets updated. **

**And of course, this doesn't just pertain to the four stories mentioned above. If one of my more obscure ones gets the five, hell, I'll move on with them too. **

**Just remember, YOUR OPINION MATTERS TO ME. I want to know what you think, what you like, hate, adore, despise: I want to know it all! I can only hone my skills as a writer and a storyteller if I have an audience willing to critique me in both positive and negative ways! Be harsh, be kind! Be whatever you want to be! Just be there!**

**ONE MORE THING! I want to make this PERFECTLY CLEAR, just because I know a few people have misunderstood already. This policy IS NOT about getting more reviews. You know what getting more reviews is like? Getting a bunch of likes on Facebook to treat someone in a hospital bed. POINTLESS. I don't care about the number of reviews so much as what is IN them. In order to become the best writer I can be, for both my sake and the sake of my readers, I need every bit of insight, input, and criticism I can get. That task falls to YOU, and this policy is the easiest way to go about it. If it were easier to do this through PMs, I would. However, it would be extremely irritating to look through every single PM to find out which story someone was talking about and which part of it, etc., etc. So this review system is the easiest way to get you guys to help me help you. If I improve as a writer, the stuff you read goes up in quality as well. **


	31. Independence is Overrated

**So, one of you is looking forward to Tomoe and Shizuka, and your wish will be granted, soon! If not this chapter, then the next one for sure!**

**(Thank you to those of you who have given me useful insight, feedback, or encouragement (I.E., Agion, Savaris, etc.) It really helps me to know when I'm doing something right or wrong and what the readers think about it).**

* * *

><p>The longer Church stayed with his gracious hostess, the more he discovered he had in common with her absent son: including clothing size. Being the overly kind woman she was, there was no way Rachel was going to let Church go about his errand wearing the rags his clothes had been mostly reduced to during the troubles of the past few days.<p>

Fortunately, her son Myles had left behind some of his old clothes, and after a good and thorough wash, Rachel had practically demanded that Church wear them right away. So, clad now in something far less conspicuous than jeans and a shirt made of synthetic fabric, nothing remained of Church's original getup beyond his jacket and his worn, battered shoes. With his tattered jeans and torn shirt stuffed into a knapsack, he now sported only some rough linen pants and an equally rough cotton shirt, both a dull brown. Rachel had also supplied Church with a light brown cloak, just in case it rained during his trip.

All in all, although the clothing was coarse and brown didn't match the red of his jacket worth a shit, Church was glad to be wearing something devoid of holes. Upon asking, Rachel had assured him that the clothing wouldn't be missed.

Church had also already met the old horse that he was going to be using as a mount. He thought of using the word "steed" as a descriptor, but the term hardly fit. Snow was an older white mare that had seen her fair share of toil in her life, but although she looked worn, Rachel had been very sure to let Church know that Snow was still sturdy and strong.

The final part of Church's preparations for his trip was the generous quantity of food and water Rachel had supplied him with. He had been a little against borrowing the three bags' worth of rations, but, once again, Rachel had assured him that she had plenty of food to spare, since she only had to feed herself and Serah.

When all was said and done, Church felt ready for adventure. Not dragon-slaying or treasure-hunting adventure, but adventure nevertheless. He now stood outside Rachel and Serah's home, strapping down everything he needed onto Snow's saddle, while the family of two watched from the porch. They were very grateful for his attempt to help them out of a tight spot, so both girls had been doubly sure to see him off: even Serah, in all of her debilitating shyness.

"Now Church, are you absolutely sure that you don't need an extra bag of food?"

Church resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation, since he knew that Rachel meant well. "I'm sure, Rachel. I have enough food for both me _and _Snow. Of course, that might be because I'll let her eat all the carrots..."

Rachel shook her head in disappointment. "You shouldn't give them all to Snow, Church. Carrots are good for your eyes, you know."

For some reason, an image of a man stabbing carrots into his eyes and saying, "_You lied to me," _flashed through Church's mind. He was pretty sure he had seen that somewhere before.

"I'll be sure to eat a few, if it helps you sleep at night."

Rachel nodded in satisfaction, although she was pretty sure Church had just blatantly lied to her. She found it amusing that a grown man still disliked veggies so strongly. The brief exchange over with, the dark-haired woman cast her gaze into the sky. Gray clouds still loomed overhead, leftovers from the earlier storm. There was a high chance that it would rain again.

"Church, if you want to avoid getting wet, you might need to be on your way soon. Either that, or you can stay until the sky clears. Personally I wouldn't mind keeping you for a little longer."

Church glanced up at the sky as well, but he was not nearly as troubled by it as he would have been yesterday. In one of the bags on Snow's back was a tarp large enough to cover him and the horse should things get nasty. And not that he didn't like Rachel and Serah, on the contrary he was quite fond of them, but Church was eager to begin his journey. He'd be more likely to run into his friends, or catch wind of them somehow if he were out and about.

Speaking of which, it suddenly struck Church that this would be the first time since he had arrived in this world where he would be traveling alone. Sure, he had been on his own once or twice, but it had always been for a very short time. With this, Church could be riding around a country he didn't know all by his lonesome for weeks. It was kind of scary, actually. Church didn't know anything about this continent himself, and although he hated to admit it, he was vulnerable without someone around to 'protect'him.

It was a huge blow to his pride to squeeze out the word even in Church's mind. In all of the shit he had gotten himself into, there had always been someone to save him. And it was a girl! Every damn time!

Church's wimpy side berated himself. _How can I even consider myself a man anymore?!_

But his manly pride side countered with, _Hold on now, I did rescue Nyx back in the bar! That was pretty manly, right? Right. All is not lost, not yet at least._

Having allayed his own insecurities for the moment, Church realized that Rachel was still waiting for an answer to her offer to stay and wait out the ominous weather. "It'll be fine. Thanks to you, I'm well-prepared for a sudden shower or two. Besides, the sooner I get going, the sooner you guys will be out of trouble."

Rachel looked like she wanted to argue, but she held her tongue. Church imagined that she liked having someone around the age of her son in the house again. She and Sera probably missed him terribly.

As he finished strapping down the last of his supplies to Snow's saddle, Church heaved himself onto the old mare's back, careful to avoid twisting his handicapped knee in any painful way. He turned to face the two wonderful people that had gotten him on his feet and equipped for a new leg of his journey.

"Thank you for all of your generosity, Rachel, Sera. If it weren't for you, I'd be in huge trouble. I promise, I'll get this done in no time, and you guys won't have to worry about a thing. Leave it to me! Oh, and I'll uh... take good care of Snow too."

Rachel and Sera both flashed Church bright smiles, although the older woman was still the only one to talk.

"Thank you for being so kind to us, Church. You have no idea how much your actions are helping us. Please, take good care of yourself."

Sera nodded enthusiastically, clearly wishing Church the same.

Church turned Snow around to face the direction Rachel had told him to go, while waving back to his hostess and her daughter. "I will! And if I see Myles, I'll let him know what a great family he has!"

That elicited the last smiles Church would ever see from those two, although he was unaware of such a dark fact at the time.

* * *

><p><em>So, I guess this would be her.<em>

On top of a rocky outcropping that jutted out from the ground, Irma watched two figures below her. She believed one of them was the emissary from Hinomoto she had been sent to find, but the silver haired woman with her was an unexpected presence. Either way, they certainly seemed to fit the bill: one silver-haired woman with a horned headband and a revealing kunoichi outfit, and another, raven-black-haired woman with a red headband and a conservative red and white shrine maiden outfit that covered pretty much her entire body. Both of the strangers spoke in a foreign language Irma couldn't recognize, so there was really no reason to assume they weren't from Hinomoto. Of course, it was possible that neither of these women was the one Irma was looking for, but there was a very high chance that she was.

Furthermore, neither of the two foreigners had noticed the elite Fang assassin yet, so Irma saw no harm in observing the duo for now. It was still early in the morning, and there was no rush. If Irma decided to subdue them, she would wait until night to do so.

* * *

><p>As soon as the trip began, Church was met with unforeseen difficulties. The first and most serious of these was the fact that he had no clue how to ride a horse. He had stopped keeping count after the twelfth time, but Church knew he had fallen out of the saddle at least twenty times in the first three hours of his ride. Thankfully, trial and error had eventually taught Church the basics of balancing on Snow's back, although he was still pretty sure he was doing it wrong.<p>

The second problem was that Church didn't know how to control Snow. The old mare wasn't very responsive to her reins being tugged in any direction, and Church didn't know any magic words to make her move faster, slower, change directions, or any of the important fundamentals. At one point, Snow had stopped walking altogether, and had just stood still in the middle of the grassy plain it trotted through. Oh, Church had a _wonderful _time trying to fix that problem.

"Forward. Advance. Onward...accelerate. Walk that way. Move. You put one hoof in front of the other..."

Needless to say, nothing had worked, but thankfully Snow had gotten bored of standing still and eventually decided to move again. Fortunately, Snow managed to walk in a straight enough line that Church had reached the first way-point in his journey, that being a small town Rachel had directed him to where he would find a map for further reference regarding the location of the blacksmith's village he was looking for.

On the flip-side, Church had no currency on him, so he had been forced to swipe the map from the street vendor that had been selling it. He felt kind of bad about that, but nothing could be done to avoid it. Beyond that, nothing of note had taken place there. Church had figured out what direction he needed to go next, rested for about an hour, and then continued on his way.

So for the most part, the first few hours of travel were agonizingly boring and frustrating. However, Church got a chance for excitement as he came upon the wall that separated Vance territory from the Queen's lands (He realized now that Vance territory wasn't nearly as large as it looked on a map, as he had reached this point in under eight hours of travel).

It surprised Church that he had gotten here so quickly, all things considered. Of course, as Church checked his recently acquired map again, he realized that Vance castle, and by extension Alabaster Town, was pretty close to the border (Geographically speaking). That being said, Church wondered what was past the castle, further northwest. It was a query that would have to go unanswered though, as right now Church had bigger fish to fry. He knew there were security checks for those coming _into _the territory, but he didn't know if the same applied to those going out of it.

To answer that question, Church stayed a little ways away from the gate as he watched other travelers go in and out of it. Fortunately for him, the only thing that was checked for those exiting the area was cargo. Since Church had nothing of note among his current belongings, he managed to get through the gate without so much as a second glance.

_Well...I guess it's just me from here on out... and this stupid stubborn horse._

All humor aside, Church wondered if he was really making the right choice here. As far as he was concerned, Church had no purpose in this world. Daedalus had told him otherwise, but had never given Church specifics, so he was lost. It was difficult, having no other reason to be somewhere than to just _be _there. So far, Church had just gone along with whatever his companions were doing. He followed Airi and Melona around as they did whatever it was they did. He exercised in the forest because Alleyne had told him to do so. So far, Church didn't think he had done anything because he _knew _that was his purpose.

_I gotta find something to do with myself. Some sort of cause, besides blindly following others. Right now, I guess it's something as simple as helping a rural family out in the middle of nowhere._

These thoughts of aimlessness haunted Church's thoughts for many hours as he navigated the foreign country he found himself in. For another six hours, he rode Snow south, away from Vance territory and towards his goal, some village on a mountaintop somewhere. Minus food, bathroom, and 'Holy-shit-my-ass-is-killing-me-better-walk-it-off-breaks', Church rode continuously, long into the evening. To be honest, the feeling of exploration of a new world, without others to guide him, had been exciting enough to keep Church going for hours. However, as he realized how high in the sky the moon was already, Church decided to stop where he was. Besides, Snow was a labor animal, and although she had done little more than trot all day, she was undoubtedly tired.

At the time when Church decided to stop, he found himself surrounded mostly by rocks. A lot of them jutted out of the ground at weird angles, piquing the Legion Commando's curiosity as to how they had gotten like that. Church took some rope that Rachel had supplied him with and tied Snow around one of the pillars of rock. The old mare flopped down where she was, and after making sure she wasn't dying or anything, Church fed her a few carrots before stretching and waltzing off to explore just a little bit before he went to bed.

He weaved in-between the rocky pillars of the area, fascinated by them. They looked natural in shape, but their positions didn't seem like they could be real. Church probably would have spent quite awhile exploring, but all of that horseback riding, even with a saddle, had his ass hurting like all hell, so Church decided he would call it quits early. As he turned around to return to Snow and set up some sort of suitable sleeping arrangement, something caught Church's eye. Something that didn't belong here... one of these rocks was not like the others, because one of these rocks had something attached to it that the others did not: a woman.

Church froze in his tracks as he stared at the spectacle, trying to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. Certain thoughts flew through his mind rapid-fire.

_OK, wait just a minute. We've got a pretty girl tied to a rock in an unusually sexual way. For God's sake, her breasts are spilling out, I can literally see everything... what's going on here?_

Church took a tentative step closer to this unconscious stranger, trying to figure out how and why she was tied to a rock, and whether or not she was really out cold. It took a great amount of focus to not ogle her completely exposed bust, but somehow Church managed. It all just seemed too random to be actually happening. But no matter how close Church got to this bound woman, she didn't disappear or turn out to be some trick of the light. At the point where Church was close enough to poke her in the arm, he was convinced she was real, which led to another dilemma entirely.

One, why was she tied up? Because she was dangerous, or because she had been subdued by someone with less than honorable intentions? Two, what would happen if Church freed her? Maybe she was a criminal or something, and the authorities would swoop down on him for being an accomplice? Or maybe some thugs would pop out of dark corners to get him too?

Church examined the person in question further, now that he was close, and saw that her breathing was quite heavy, even in her state of unconsciousness. Searching for the cause of it, Church noticed that the woman's pale skin sported several bruises, as well as a bloody gash across her chest. The wound looked superficial, but it was bleeding profusely, and Church assumed that it hurt pretty badly. The right side of her face also sported a particularly nasty bruise, and it was easy to assume that this woman had been beaten while subdued.

Emphatic at heart, Church couldn't resist the urge to help this beautiful girl out at this point, even though he knew nothing about her. She could've been dangerous, but Church just had to hope for the best.

Looking around for anything he could use to sever her bonds, Church spotted a small rock with a particularly jagged edge a few feet from him. He figured that with it, he could saw through the ropes that bound her in such a tantalizing fashion. Church decided to start with the ropes around her legs rather than the ones that wrapped around her sizable and exposed breasts, for the sake of having a little time to mentally prepare himself for cutting through those aforementioned bonds.

Unfortunately, that didn't really work as well as Church had hoped. This silver-haired woman was dressed quite scantly, and her rescuer got an eyeful of her gorgeous pale thighs as he worked to abrade through the ropes that restricted her. Needless to say, only half of Church's attention was on the job.

_Damn, am I really such a pervert that I can't even help a woman without eying her like this? No, wait, don't blame yourself! It's their fault for dressing so indecently in the first place! Not that I'm complaining... honestly though, of all the women I've met, the only one that dresses modestly is Hachiel... and compared to all of the others, even Airi's outfit can be considered conservative... but that maid getup is so damn tantalizing regardless..._

Church was snapped out of his thoughts as the resistance he was fighting suddenly gave way, as he had managed to saw through the first bindings during his inner monologue. Steeling himself for another wondrous sight, the ex-Legion commando moved up to get rid of the rest of the ropes, doing his best to focus on the task and nothing else, especially not the well-endowed and naked chest of the girl he was helping.

He actually managed to do it somehow. In fact, Church was _so _aware of the girl's body, and by extension, so focused on ignoring it, that he actually got through his job without a single perverted thought. Reverse psychology perhaps?

Either way, the unconscious woman fell into Church's arms as she was released, causing Church to stumble backwards a little before catching her. She was pretty light, but Church sunk to the ground anyway, just because it would be easier to manage her from there. Careful to make sure he wasn't touching anywhere he wasn't supposed to, Church ghosted his fingers over her body in search of further injuries. However, the gash on her torso seemed to be the only exterior wound he could find without removing her clothes, something he was completely unwilling to do. Of course, thinking about her clothes reminded Church that her entire upper body was completely exposed to him, and he quickly covered the woman with her top once again.

Now content with the state of her modesty, Church was about to see if he had anything on him to at least bandage the stranger's wound with, when the person in question shot her hand forward and grabbed her rescuer by the throat. Church immediately wrapped his hands around the pale girl's wrist in an attempt to pull her off, but her strength far surpassed his, so he tried to choke out some words instead.

"H-hey! Calm down, I'm on your side!"

He looked down at the woman currently strangling him, hoping to convey his good intentions, and he was met with eyes a startling shade of bright silver, ones that seemed more suspicious and questioning than actually hostile. If he hadn't been fighting to breathe, Church probably would have taken the time to tell himself she had beautiful eyes.

The girl's silver eyes darted about quickly, trying to assess the situation. She concluded with relative ease that this man before her had saw fit to free her from her bonds, and that he hadn't intended to harm her, or else he would have done so without releasing her in the first place. Having come to that conclusion, she released her iron grip on Church's throat.

"Gomennasai."

Church rubbed his throat as he looked at the girl in confusion. "Huh?"

The woman looked Church quizzically before a look of understanding came across her and she seemed to internally berate herself. "Ah...I'm sorry."

Church realized now that she had said something foreign the first time, what he assumed was 'sorry.' "Oh, uh... it's fine... that was a natural reaction I suppose..."

Before either one of the strangers could say something further, a new voice rang out form behind Church's back somewhere.

"Shizuka-san!"

Church turned his head back to look at a new arrival, spotting a woman with jet-black hair and the most reasonable outfit he had seen on any woman to date around here. She was quite beautiful, but that characteristic was marred by an angry expression and a wicked sharp katana in her grip. She cast one, angry purple glare at Church, glanced at the girl currently in Church's arms who had yet to say anything, and came to a personal decision.

She charged at Church with her sword at the ready, convinced he had attacked her comrade and friend.

_Well, shi_t.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay for Shizuka and Tomoe! And for Church getting a damn horse instead of having to walk everywhere. <strong>

**As far as the Continent is concerned, I think we all know at this point that its geography was sketchy at best. I don't know how large or small Vance territory is really supposed to be, but for the sake of advancing the story, I got Church out of there in a day. I tried to make it seem more reasonable by saying that Church had rode for hours at that point, but eh... do any of us really care? The answer is no. **

**Anyway, this chapter is a little short, but AP exams in school are getting closer, so I gotta denote a ton of my time to that. Hope you guys found this chapter enjoyable, and please let me know how it was. Pros, cons, lay it one me, all of your opinions are valid.**


	32. Nighttime Tranquility

**I should technically update Beautiful Chaos first, but I'm more in the mood for CoF right now. Also, I'm writing this without internet so I can't look back at my last BC chapter to see where I left off, as I just can't remember. I can however, remember where we left Church and the new arrivals, so I'm picking up here.**

**Anyways, feedback is always appreciated, thanks to those of you who spoke your minds and put forth your ideas for this past week. All feedback, positive or negative, so long as it isn't straight up bashing, is more than welcome. Keep it up, guys!**

* * *

><p>Church's mind drew a blank for a moment as he saw the keen edge of a razor-sharp katana slicing through the air towards his neck. He'd been in danger a lot lately, but none of those cases had been so sudden. He had had plenty of warning when facing Echidna or infiltrating Vance castle, or even when he decided to throw himself into battle alongside Nyx, although he hadn't been very useful.<p>

This was a bit different, in the fact that Church had expected this woman to be glad that he had rescued this silver-haired girl in his arms, whom she obviously knew. Instead she had charged at him with killer intent right from the start.

And of course, this red and white clad beauty was unbelievably fast. By the time Church had even registered the fact that he needed to move, she was about to behead him. Church, finally managing to react but knowing that he would never evade the blow in time, tried to throw his arm up to block the sword howling towards his neck. Church knew that this maneuver would probably cost him his arm, but if his bone stopped the blade, anything was better than losing his head.

Church gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the excruciating pain that he was expecting, but instead of a burning tear into his forearm, something slammed into his chest, hard enough to send him flying back four or five feet. This sudden blowback caused the sword that would have ended Church's life to swipe through thin air instead.

Unfortunately that life-saving blow had also knocked the wind out of Church, who was unable to get to his feet as he tried to catch his breath. He heard some shouting in a foreign tongue, from both women, that sounded vaguely Oriental in some form. Church couldn't distinguish which Eastern language it may have been exactly.

After a few moments of rolling around trying to get some air back into his lungs, Church managed to rise to a sitting position. He cast a wary gaze towards the two strangers, their shouting having subsided into calm, yet confused muttering and gestures. The silver-haired woman, who Church assumed had pushed him (What amazing strength!), was gesturing towards the man as she spoke to the raven-haired woman, whose beautiful face gradually changed from confusion to horror.

The sword-wielding beauty turned towards Church and bowed lower than the otherworldly soldier thought possible, her body forming an acute angle that didn't seem comfortable in the slightest. "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I just assumed that you had… to Shizuka… I'm so sorry!"

Church's voice was still a little strained due to his temporary breathing impairment, but he tried to assuage the woman's fears, as she was obviously truly regretful for her actions. "It's uh… OK, Miss. No harm done… to my neck at least."

The mention of the harm almost done just caused the dark-haired woman to bow a few degrees further. Church thought he might have even seem some tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. "Aaauu… to think I almost killed you for rescuing Shizuka-san… please forgive me…"

The horned-headband girl, who Church now assumed was Shizuka, scratched the back of her head as she grinned at Church. "Sorry about pushing you so hard. I didn't break anything, did I?"

Church shook his head, but offered a reassuring smile to the two women. "The only broken thing at this point is my pride. You're insanely strong, you know?"

Shizuka gave a small laugh as she rose to her feet. However, her easy grin transformed into a grimace as she stumbled into the other woman's arms halfway through her rise, clutching the wound on her chest as she did so.

"Shizuka-san! What's wrong?!"

Shizuka let out a few huffs as her breath grew more ragged. "I-it's fine Tomoe-sama… just a scratch, for sure. It's not so deep."

The woman that Church assumed was Tomoe looked over Shizuka with obvious concern. "But you're breathing is so heavy, Shizuka-san. Such a shallow wound shouldn't cause you such pain…"

Church knew very little about medical care and examination, but a few ideas ran through his mind as to why a light scratch would be more serious than it appeared. "Um, I don't proclaim to know too much about stuff like this, ladies… but, er… poison, perhaps? Or something similar…?"

Shizuka's brow furrowed in thought for a moment, before she nodded in agreement. "That does make sense. A Fang assassin would be likely to use poison…"

Tomoe panicked for a moment. "I-is it fatal!? What should we do?!"

Shizuka placed a free hand on Tomoe's shoulder. "It's no real danger, Tomoe-sama. I think the enemy wanted us alive… moreover, I've been unconscious for a while at least… any fatal poison would have done me in by now."

Church cocked an eyebrow at the two women. "Is there any chance that this assailant is still around? Should we be worried about a knife in the back?"

Tomoe glanced around, eyeing the shadows with her unique purple eyes. "That's true… Shizuka-san, do you remember anything that happened after you were knocked out?"

Shizuka scowled at the reminder of her defeat. "No, sorry Tomoe-sama. She could be anywhere… I assumed she had gone after you after subduing me."

The raven-haired warrior frowned. "Indeed. I fought her to a stalemate a little while ago, but she disappeared into the shadows before I could land a significant blow..."

Church glanced around as well, although he didn't know who he was looking for. "Well, um… do you two need any kind of assistance? I mean, I have some supplies back with my horse, if you need anything…"

Shizuka looked more than willing to accept any type of generosity, but Tomoe, not so much. "Oh no, we could never ask you to do that, not after I so wrongfully attacked you for saving Shizuka-san!"

Said saved woman softly elbowed Tomoe in the side. "We'd be glad to accept some help if you're willing, er…?"

"Church."

"Hmm, interesting name. I guess you've figured out ours already?"

"Sure have, Miss Shizuka."

The silver-haired woman gave another easy smile, something that seemed to come quite naturally to her. "Oh, you can leave out the Miss part. It makes me feel way older than I am. I'm still a beautiful young girl, y'know?"

Church could sense a slight flirtatious undertone in Shizuka's words, and he decided to play along, if along a more subdued path. "Well, you won't see me disagreeing with that statement, trust me."

Tomoe completely missed the little exchange, but Shizuka offered a slight smirk and a playful wink in response to Church's words. Instead of being uneasy about flirting with a virtual stranger, Church found himself quite at ease with the whole affair. Something about Shizuka just gave off an easygoing and playful atmosphere that just about anyone could step into. She was clearly the amiable type: Church's favorite kind of person by far, especially when it came to women.

"Well, I left my horse and supplies over this way. Care to follow me?"

* * *

><p>From the shadows that surrounded the scene, Irma frowned in dissatisfaction. This stranger had come out of nowhere and thrown an unknown variable into the equation that the Fang assassin had so carefully calculated.<p>

Now the one person she had subdued was free and conscious, the Shrine Maiden was there to support her and on the lookout for trouble, and this stranger was around, with combat abilities that were completely unknown. In the blink of an eye, the odds had turned against Irma. She had figured that she could have taken down both women if she caught them alone and unawares, which had worked for the ninja woman at least.

But now things were different. Irma had no delusions about her own strength compared to the Shrine Maiden's. In a direct confrontation, she would likely be defeated, as she almost had been the first time fighting her. At this point, the assassin had no chance of success. Even if the ninja was weakened, she was still a formidable enemy, and an opponent of unknown strength was never a good thing. Furthermore, they were now fully aware of her presence, and a sneak attack would be nigh on impossible.

With that conclusion reached, Irma decided it would simply be best to keep an eye on things from afar, and wait for a better opportunity than the one she had currently. Besides, she had all night to make a move.

* * *

><p>Fortunately Snow had been either too old or too lazy to try and wander off in Church's absence, even though the mare was tied to a pillar of rock. That being the case, all of the things he needed to make a fire were there. He had made sure to collect wood along his journey so far for situations like these, where trees were sparse or even nonexistent.<p>

The evening wasn't all that cold, but Shizuka seemed to appreciate the fire more than the other two people present. Then again, she was wearing a lot less than Church and Tomoe. Despite Tomoe's protests, Shizuka had treated and bandaged her wound herself with whatever Church had had available. He silently thanked Rachel for having the foresight to pack medicines and bandages and whatnot for him. That woman was a lifesaver, even if it wasn't for him.

Things had fallen into silence for a few minutes after everyone had gotten comfortable: Church figured it was because everyone was on edge, considering there was some sort of assassin on the loose. Church did his best to keep an eye out for the mysterious assailant, but the night had quickly become so dark that he could see almost nothing beyond the fire's light. He noticed that Tomoe had been doing the same, but had likewise been thwarted by the blackness.

Shizuka had appeared to be completely unconcerned by the thought of being ambushed again, but Church could tell that she was listening for anything out of the ordinary, although how she could do so with the crackling fire was beyond him.

Since the silver-haired girl's hearing was the only means of detecting the enemy at the moment, Church was reluctant to break the silence and possibly disrupt her vigilance. This silence only added to the awkward feel of the night, but fortunately for all of them one of their number decided to break it.

"Church, I can't remember if I thanked you for saving me earlier. So, y'know…"

Church nodded and offered a small smile, while wondering if Shizuka's hearing was so good that she could talk, hear the fire, and still listen out for the enemy effectively. Maybe she could.

"It was no problem, really…"

"Oh, I'm sure. After all, you got an eyeful of my awesome body as a reward for your time, right?"

Church couldn't hold back a blush as he recalled the up-close and personal sight he had gotten of Shizuka's body while freeing her. Hell yeah it had been worth his time. Naturally, Tomoe was having the same reaction, albeit for different reasons.

"S-Shizuka-san, please don't make such suggestive comments! I'm sure Church was thinking nothing of the sort when he rescued you!"

Shizuka offered Church a knowing wink as she answered. "Of course he wasn't. Just a joke, you know?"

Church was fully aware that Shizuka knew he had enjoyed the view earlier. He knew he had a terrible poker face when it came to women. "So, uh… is it alright if I ask who you guys are? I mean, if you can't tell me or don't want to or anything, that's fine…"

Tomoe gave him a gentle smile, one that seemed to fit her quite well. "We'd be happy to share. I'm an emissary from Hinomoto: I've come to negotiate with the Queen here for aid in dealing with problems back home, or failing that, to win the upcoming Queen's Blade tournament to take the throne for myself and aid my homeland with the political power I will then possess."

Shizuka pointed to herself as she began her introduction. "And I'm just a really close friend of Tomoe-sama's, here to make sure she doesn't get conned or something in all of her naive purity and innocence."

Tomoe shot an irritated glare at her companion, who waved it off with a playful smile. Church could tell even this early in his acquaintance with them that the two women were quite close. "Sounds like a really important mission. Isn't Hinomoto that uh… island place out in the ocean somewhere? Sorry, I'm not too keen on geography."

Really, the only reason that Church knew what Hinomoto was at all was because Hachiel had asked if he was from there that one time many weeks ago. Likewise, he knew very little about the tournament Tomoe had mentioned, as he had only talked about it at length once, when Airi had told him about the government.

Shizuka answered Church's query, twirling her index finger around the silver hair that ran down one of her shoulders as she did so. "Yeah, it's out in the East. Speaking of which, where are you from? I'm guessing it's around here of course, but you never know, right?"

Church went down the list of places he had visited so far on this Continent. He ruled out the obvious places as viable answers and tried to pick a place that hadn't given him any trouble at all, but realized that there were none. Almost every town he visited was chock-full of adversity and random bullshit.

"Alabaster Town, which is a little ways inside Vance territory."

Tomoe nodded, accepting the lie without issue, but Shizuka gave Church a wry look with those clever gray eyes of hers. "Oh really? What are you doing way out here then? We're hours from the Vance border. You don't look like much of a merchant either, considering that you've only got one horse…"

Church could feel the suspicion emanating from the woman, but tried to keep up the lie rather than tell the honest truth. After all, saying he was from a country in another dimension would hardly be more believable. "I left the village and the territory because Count Vance is pushing up taxes to exorbitant levels. A lot of other people from the territory are doing the same, although I bet they'll close off the gate eventually."

Shizuka still seemed a little hesitant to believe that, but she let the subject rest. Still, it didn't take long for her to find something new to prod him over. "So where do you plan on going? Got somewhere particular in mind, or are you just riding until you find someplace you like?"

"I'm heading for a village in the mountains that I hear is a pretty nice place. I think it was something with an B…"

Shizuka seemed to believe this one right of the bat, which worried Church considering that this one was indeed the truth and the questions she had actually contested had been lies. "I think I know what you're talking about, but I can't remember its name. By the way, sorry if I'm being a bit too nosy: it's kinda like second nature, being a ninja and all."

Church did a double-take at that piece of information. "Wait, wait, wait… you're a ninja? Like… a kunai and shuriken and replacing yourself with logs kind of ninja?"

A cheerful nod. "Yep. Hey, I'm surprised you knew we could do that last one."

Church remembered a massively popular anime about ninja a few years before NOVA. "Hey uh… this is going to sound like a silly question but… how do you run?"

Shizuka quirked an eyebrow at the strange question. "How do I… run?"

"Y-you know… like, do ninja really do that thing where they lean forward and stick their arms behind their backs?"

Shizuka smiled as she caught onto what Church was asking. "Oh yeah, sure we do. It's actually an aerodynamic form we use to increase speed... but more importantly, it makes us look really cool."

"One more question."

"Sure thing."

"Would any self-respecting ninja ever wear orange as a primary color?"

"...no. Absolutely not."

* * *

><p>The threat of an assassin in the shadows was all but forgotten by everyone in the group except Shizuka, who was alert and on guard throughout the whole night. Yet somehow she managed to laugh and chat and entertain her friends all the while. Guess that was a ninja for you.<p>

As the hours of the night wore on, everyone in the trio found that none of them really wanted to sleep. Church found that Shizuka was witty and charming and Tomoe was kind and endearing, and the two women found that Church was likewise good company. They hardly noticed when the moon passed its apex and began its descent back towards the horizon.

Maybe that was because there was a lot to talk about. Church had asked a lot of questions of Shizuka and just how far the abilities of a ninja went, although there was a lot she said she couldn't tell him. Still, it turned out that Shadow Clones wasn't a real technique. Bummer.

At some time in the early hours of the morning, Tomoe had fallen asleep as she sat, which was quite a feat considering the squatting position that she was in. According to Shizuka, she sat like that all the time, which Church figured would put her legs to sleep more often than not.

"Should we lay her on her side or something?"

Shizuka grinned at the thought of it. "Oh no, definitely not. She would never forgive me if I stained the top of her outfit. That white is impossible to clean."

"But won't her legs get sore? Or numb? She'll definitely feel it when she wakes up…"

Shizuka waved the problem away with her hand. "She's been sitting like that since she was a toddler. There was one time her sensei made her sit like that for eight hours for some sort of infraction. That being said, I'm sure she'll be fine for a few hours, don't you think?"

Church nodded with a grin. "So, you two go back a long ways huh…? Or is she just comfortable telling you embarrassing stuff like that?"

"That'd be the latter. Unfortunately, we don't go that far back. We met a few years ago actually, but got off to more of a rocky start than you would think. Not that we aren't great friends now of course."

"Of course."

Shizuka fell silent for a moment and gave Church a curious glance that spoke of doubt. Needless to say this unnerved Church greatly. "Something wrong, Shizuka? You look a little concerned about something."

"I know you lied to us. Why?"

Having talked for so many consecutive hours about so many things, Church wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about anymore, but he was worried nevertheless. "Oh? About what exactly?"

The silver-haired ninja glanced over at Tomoe, making sure she was still asleep. "You aren't from Vance territory, and the reasons you gave us for your trip are lies. Tax evasion is the furthest thing from your mind."

Now Church remembered the small lie he had told these two near the beginning of the night. He was curious as to how Shizuka could have possibly known he was lying, but he decided it would be best to just admit it.

"Yes, I lied about that. I'm sorry, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you where I was really from, so I had decided to just choose a village I had visited before as my origin. How'd you know?"

Shizuka twirled her finger around her hair again. "I'm guessing that you don't know this, but your left eye twitches just a little bit whenever you lie. Of course I didn't know that at first, but as the night wore on, it happened whenever I made some sort of suggestive joke and you denied that you were thinking anything of the sort. Which was obviously a lie, right?"

She finished that off with another sly grin, something that seemed to come naturally to her. Unfortunately this left Church a little confused. "I don't understand: are you mad at me or what? You seem to be in the same mood as you have been all night… which is definitely the one I prefer, trust me."

Shizuka shrugged before offering yet another amiable smile. "You might have lied about that, but I don't think that you're a bad guy. I mean, sometimes things just need to be lied about, right? As a ninja I get that, and I don't think that you deceived us for any other reason than to avoid a lengthy explanation. So no, I'm not angry. I still like you just as much as I did ten minutes ago."

Church grinned slyly at her. "Really? And how much is that exactly?"

"Oh, I'd say it's a pretty good bit… I mean, you're an awfully charming guy, y'know?"

"Are you making fun of me?"

The question was met with a cheerful giggle, and Church was reminded of the times he had made other women do the same. He was pretty good at this wasn't he?

"Maybe a little… you know, I'm surprised you didn't flirt with Tomoe-sama this whole time. I thought for sure you'd say _something. _Not that she would have been as receptive as me, of course."

Church looked over to Tomoe, who was still fast asleep in the same position she had been sitting in. She was very beautiful, without a doubt, but Church wasn't the kind of guy to hit on a girl like that, especially if she seemed to be the type that wouldn't appreciate it.

"Well, I guess I was enjoying myself talking with you so much that I didn't even think of it."

"Well isn't that sweet of you? Still, I would think it'd be hard to just forget she's there, considering that she's probably the most beautiful woman in a hundred miles of here."

Church wondered if this was another flirtatious ploy. He felt a little ashamed to be so easily pulled into it, but he really did enjoy doing so. "Oh, discounting yourself so quickly? Isn't that a little hasty?"

He had expected a smile, or at least a wink or something, but Shizuka actually frowned, and there wasn't a trace of that playful lilt she usually had in her voice as she answered. "Who's making fun of people now, huh? Look, you don't have to say things like that just to make me feel better: I know that compared to Tomoe, I'm hardly worth noticing, especially with this dull gray hair and pale skin and all..."

Church could've sworn he had heard a hard, bitter edge in Shizuka's words, but convinced himself that he was merely imagining it. They were best friends, right? Surely something as petty as appearance wasn't enough to damage their relationship? Still, Church could feel how the mood had shifted in such a short time. He figured it was for the best to try and return things to the lighthearted state they had been.

That said, he spoke his next words with a smile. "C'mon Shizuka, give yourself some credit. Silver is a beautiful color. There's a reason everybody holds it in such high value you know."

Shizuka hardly looked convinced, but she managed to get a slight smile back on her face. "Silver, huh? I honestly think it's gray more than anything else, but thanks anyway. Do you always try so hard to make people feel better?"

"Well, telling the truth hardly takes much effort, now does it?"

"The truth?"

Church usually felt smooth when he said stuff like this, but he never knew how he actually appeared to those he was speaking to. Maybe he just looked like an idiot? He certainly hoped not. "Yeah, the truth. And the truth in this situation is that you are as equally beautiful and attractive as Tomoe. Well, uh… to me, at least. Er… was that awkward?"

Shizuka stared at Church blankly for a few moments, not quite sure what to say to him. As a ninja she was an expert at hiding her emotions, so she fought down the blush she felt coming on without trouble, although she couldn't do anything about the happiness that welled up inside her at being held in equal standing with Tomoe, which was almost completely unheard of since she had begun traveling with the woman.

"It was… um…just a little bit. But still… thank you. I'm not sure anyone's ever said something like that to me before…"

Church thought she might have been lying for his benefit, as he could see no reaction at all to tell if she had even believed his words. Before he could say anything else though, the ninja in question laid back onto the ground and waved at him from there.

"I'm gonna go ahead and get to sleep now. If you're worried about the assassin, I'll know if she gets close, alright?"

Church hadn't expected the night's conversation to end so abruptly, but now that it was over he realized just how tired he was. "Er… okay then… I'll just put out the fire, I guess…"

Shizuka allowed herself a wide smile as the darkness fell to conceal it from anyone else. Church's eye hadn't twitched even once the whole time he had been complimenting her.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, yeah, I made a roundabout attack on Naruto (The character, I actually love the show), someone shoot me. <strong>

**Unfortunately our Eastern beauties aren't going to be around for long, which is a shame considering how well Shizuka and Church would have gotten along. But on the other hand, we're actually going to have the angels with us at length soon, so there's something to look forward to. After all, they usually show up for one chapter and then disappear.**

**Anyway, don't forget about the "Future Projects" poll if you're interested in voting on that, and if anyone reading this is a fan of Naruto, I've started a fic for that too called "Manifest Destiny," so feel free to check that out. As always, thanks for reading, and remember that your feedback, be it praise or criticism, is welcome at all times.**


	33. Long-Distance Goals

**Well, it's been a long time: far longer than under any normal circumstances I would allow myself before updating again. By my estimation, it's been about a month or more since this story, or any of them for that matter, have been updated. Unfortunately, the long wait was out of my control.**

**This past month had been pretty hectic, as the military has decided to relocate the family again, and even though we've been more or less settled in our new house, our internet provider has been dragging their feet and left me without internet for way too long, which of course, prevented me from updating.**

**Now I'd like to make this chapter a little longer to try and compensate for the long wait, but most of my other stories need to be updated as well, so that may not be possible at this time.**

* * *

><p>Church was not a morning person. He never had been, and never would be. That being the case, when he was rudely awakened by a ray of morning sunlight, his first reaction was to roll over and throw his arm over his eyes. As a soldier, he was used to having to wake up early, but waking up before noon if he didn't absolutely have to was a highly unlikely prospect.<p>

But naturally his own qualms about being an early-riser didn't apply to everyone. Church could hear the shuffling of his two female acquaintances as they decided to get up for the day, but made no move to do so himself. One of the girls took a few footsteps towards him, before Shizuka's voice pierced the silence Church had been hoping to return to sleep in.

"Church? Hey, I know you're awake."

Church refrained from making any movement and only offered some unintelligible muttering as a response, amusing the silver-haired ninja as she prodded the man in the side with her toe. "Church… c'mon, get up…"

This time the ex-soldier rolled over and made some sort of airy wave with his hand, as if to brush aside Shizuka's words. "…five more minutes… or fifty maybe…"

Shizuka just sighed and glanced back towards Tomoe, who was already making her way towards the two women's destination. "Aw, too bad. And I was gonna invite him to go bathe with us in that hot spring we found the other day too."

Tomoe made a scandalized grimace, knowing full well that her longtime friend was probably only half-joking. "Shizuka-san, that's not really something… I mean I don't think our relationship with him is on that level…"

Shizuka cocked an eyebrow at Tomoe's poor choice of words. "So are you saying that if he was on that level you'd be OK with him coming along and seeing you naked? Well, I guess you'd be seeing him too…"

Tomoe's sexually naïve mind couldn't handle the thought of such a thing, and her entire face nearly turned as red as the bottom half of her outfit. "W-w-what?! I could never, I mean, I wouldn't allow such a thing! N-never!"

"But Tomoe-sama, you're gonna die a virgin thinking like that…"

"That's perfectly fine with me!"

Shizuka folded her arms behind her head and rolled her eyes, smiling to herself all the while. One day she was going to have to corrupt Tomoe's mind for the better.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Church, he was unable to get himself back to sleep, no matter how much he willed himself to do so. So about thirty minutes after Tomoe and Shizuka left to do whatever they had in mind, Church grudgingly pushed himself out of his more or less comfortable sleeping position to glance around his resting place.<p>

Naturally he and Snow where the only living things around, although Church was afraid the old mare might be dead with how still she was in her sleep. Upon careful observation, Snow was proven to be alive, even though the horse's breaths were barely noticeable from even a slight distance.

Church let out a yawn as he stood to stretch out a night's worth of stiff muscles. He tried to look at the sky and determine what time it was, but considering that he didn't know what time the sun rose in this region, that was impossible. But whatever time it was, he figured it was too early to get back on the road, and either way, he didn't really want to cut out on Tomoe and Shizuka just like that, without saying goodbye or anything.

Still, he had no clue where they went… but some exercise would do him some good anyway, so Church figured he would take his time to look around for the two ladies. He made sure to leave some carrots within Snow's reach in case she woke up before he returned, then set off in a random direction to both stretch his legs and look for last night's feminine company.

Church roamed around the craggy area for roughly ten or fifteen minutes before he caught the sound of Shizuka's rather cheery voice carried through the air. He couldn't make out what she was saying, but obviously she couldn't have been too far away from where he was standing amidst the spires of brown rocks.

Without any real thought going into the decision, Church began to move in the direction he thought he could hear the buxom ninja's voice coming from. It didn't even occur to him that perhaps she and Tomoe had left the campsite to do something private. Then again, even if the thought had occurred to him, Church probably would have misinterpreted such a thing in scandalous ways.

But Church's cognitive abilities weren't completely functional within an hour of waking up, so even when he could see steam emanating from somewhere up ahead, the possibility of something being amiss didn't even occur to him. Everything seemed perfectly fine within his sleep-fogged mind, right up until he turned the corner of another outcropping of rock and found who he was looking for.

"Hey, what are you two…doing…"

Church's words died in his throat as his brain failed to form the rest of the sentence. The two girls he was looking for where here, yes. They were also stark naked, with Shizuka's eyes locked onto the intruder with surprise and Tomoe staring wide-eyed at that same man with absolute horror.

The two women were in a hot spring, bathing, and both unprepared for the new arrival, meaning they were completely exposed and the natural reflex of covering themselves hadn't kicked in just yet. That would only last a few seconds of course, but it felt like an eternity for the male intruder on the scene, who couldn't tear his eyes away from the spectacle.

Both Tomoe and Shizuka were sitting on the edge of the pool of water rather than in it. Shizuka had been undoing the bandage tied around her chest from last night's injury, exposing her beautifully pale breasts to someone who was glad to be seeing them twice in two days, at least on the inside. Tomoe's back was towards Church, so instead of getting a glimpse of her no doubt awesome assets he got a great view of her ass, pressed against the flat rocks on the side of the hot spring…

"Getting an eyeful, Church?"

Snapped back to reality by Shizuka's flirty voice, Church's eyes reflexively flew to her face, unable to form a rational sentence but still able to catch the slight blush on the woman's cheeks, made all the more obvious by the pale tone of her skin. Still, even if she were the more shameless of the two girls before him, Shizuka nevertheless put an arm up to cover the most tantalizing parts of her body. Tomoe opted for hopping back in the water, still looking completely mortified.

Church knew he had to say something to dispel whatever assumptions the two girls had just made about him, but instead of a sentence, most of his apologetic words spilled out of his mouth in an unrefined stream.

"No, I mean yes I did but I didn't really mean to I didn't know you two were like this and I wasn't thinking and oh God I'm sorry please I didn't mean to do this I just-"

Shizuka cut him off before Church could ramble any longer, having gotten the point already. "It's alright Church, we get it. Well, I do at least."

She had figured that this was all an accident. Not only did Church not seem the type to do something so low and distasteful, but he also gave himself away the moment he showed up, which no one in the right mind would do… still, Shizuka couldn't help but wonder just whose body he had enjoyed seeing the most.

Wishing it were her instead of Tomoe was not a new feeling by any means… but for some reason having Church choose her over Tomoe felt more significant than having any other guy off the streets do it. Maybe it had something to do with what he had said to her the night before. Before Shizuka could only speculate on whether or not other people thought she was as attractive as the woman she was always compared to. But Church had made it perfectly clear he thought she was, so Shizuka found herself really wanting him to think the same now, having seen both her and Tomoe like they were.

She had half a mind to ask, but decided against it, feeling somewhat ashamed to even be thinking in such a way. She was supposed to be Tomoe's friend. Having the need to one-up her because of some petty jealousy issues… how pathetic was that?

By this time Church had already turned his back to the girls to avoid any more mishaps, although he couldn't decide whether he should just run to prevent the situation from escalating or stay and apologize further for his faux pas.

Afraid that he had satisfied Shizuka with his hastily uttered apology earlier but not Tomoe, Church chose the latter option. "I-I'm really sorry, I had no idea…"

Sensing that he was speaking to her more than to her friend, Tomoe fought down her embarrassment so she could say something without stuttering, although she didn't manage to do that completely. "It's alright Church… I-I'm sure you didn't mean to…"

"I uh… I'm just gonna, you know, go…"

It didn't take long for Shizuka to bury her controversial feelings under her usual flirty and amiable tune. "Don't be a stranger when we get back Church, you can always ask if you want more."

Tomoe hastened to counter that statement, but Church had already walked off, probably in an embarrassed and more than likely slightly aroused haze. Shizuka watched him go before looking down at the fresh wound just above her left breast, left by that assassin last night. It was still fresh and pretty tender, and although the cut was shallow, it was probably going to scar… she wondered if something like that would bother him?

* * *

><p>Even a full hour after the incident, the girls had yet to finish their morning bathing session, giving Church plenty of time to try and sort his thoughts out as he tried to prepare himself and Snow for the second day of travel. Unfortunately, the tasks of strapping on bags or straightening the saddle on Snow were too mundane and menial to distract Church from his more colorful thoughts.<p>

The guilt of having accidentally dropped in on Tomoe and Shizuka at such an inappropriate time had long since worn off, having been replaced with content satisfaction at his luck in seeing such a thing. Church was a good, moral guy all around, but he was a full-grown straight man, and there was no way he could ignore the sight of two beautiful and exotic women in the nude. It was just impossible.

Maybe that made him a pervert, but at least he kept it to himself… as long as he didn't try to purposefully catch girls in situations like that, he couldn't really be faulted for enjoying what he saw by accident, right?

Church decided to go with that, mostly because it made him feel less guilty about the thoughts he was entertaining right now, which was comparing Shizuka and Tomoe's equally awesome bodies to one another. It was almost impossible to really decide if either woman was sexier than the other… Tomoe had a very refined and elegant beauty about her while Shizuka seemed to have more of a risqué sexiness. Not to mention that Church was really liking the silver hair. He used to associate that kind of color with old women, but when it was sported by a young lady like Shizuka, it was really unique and alluring.

Church shook his head as if to clear it of what he was thinking.

_Alright, c'mon me: it's not just about the body, personality and character is a lot more important. A beautiful body with a terrible person on the inside is worthless. But that doesn't really help, considering that Tomoe and Shizuka are both really great people as far as I know, and they're equally beautiful on the outside too. Hmm… maybe I should just appreciate them individually? That sounds good, there's no need to compare people, that's just shallow…_

Church nodded to himself, satisfied with the conclusion he had reached in holding both Tomoe and Shizuka in equal standing both superficially and as people. Everyone had something unique about them to appreciate right? Unfortunately, Church's inner soliloquy distracted him from the outside world long enough to be approached without noticing it.

Church didn't even register any kind of threat at all until it was far too late to do anything about it. The fact that he was in a dire predicament didn't occur to him until the razor edge of a dagger of some sort was pressed against his lower spine.

"Don't move. Don't say anything."

Church's first reaction was to inwardly berate himself for being so oblivious to his surroundings. His old drill sergeant would be absolutely ashamed of him right now; he'd probably be forced to go through basic training all over again. To be caught off guard like this, as a sniper, was the worst possible mistake to make. He was rusty, sure; being completely away from the modern soldier occupation for several months did that. But this was still pathetic.

He always knew women would be the death of him, but Church didn't think it would be through distraction when they weren't even around. Then again, the person who had him at knifepoint was a woman too, and by the tone of her voice; a tone Church recognized as one most hardened killers used when they weren't playing around, his death at the hands of a woman may not be too far off.

He said nothing and didn't move an inch, as he had been told. He didn't doubt for a minute that this woman would kill him if he gave her a reason to. Instead, his captor filled the silence, albeit with hushed, whispered words.

"Cooperate with me and I won't have to kill you. I am here to ask questions only."

Church questioned the wisdom of saying anything at all, but he figured as long as he didn't yell for help or anything he wouldn't find himself suddenly paralyzed. "Fire away then."

"I thought I told you not to say anything."

"I have to speak to answer a question."

"And did I ask you a question?"

Church knew it was unwise to try and mess with his captor, but any way he could stall for time increased the chances of Tomoe or Shizuka showing up to help him out of this mess. His life was hanging on a thread here, but Church figured that he'd bank on the fact that he was needed alive, for now at least.

"Well you did now."

Behind him, Irma half smirked and half grimaced. On one hand she didn't like being played like that, especially when she was in the position of power here. On the other, this man's witty manipulation of the conversation between the two of them reminded her of Aldra's own prowess when it came to the same thing.

"Don't push your luck. You'll only be valuable for so long."

Church didn't say anything else, unwilling to test his captor's resolve more than he had thus far. Instead, he was just waited until she decided to begin her interrogation. Before she asked her first question, Church felt a palm pressed against his back, about where his heart was. Whatever purpose this served eluded him.

"For what purpose did you arrive at this location and aid those two last night?"

This person probably didn't know Tomoe and Shizuka by name, but it was obvious that she was referring to them regardless. "I stopped in this region to rest my horse on my way to a town in the mountains. I came across one of the women in trouble last night and decided to be an upstanding guy and help her out."

"You had no knowledge of what was transpiring here before your arrival? No idea that there was a conflict occurring?"

"None whatsoever."

Church was surprised that this woman didn't press these questions further. It was like she was just accepting all of his answers at face value… unless she could tell that he really was telling the truth somehow. He'd answer her next question with a lie, just to double-check…

"And should I confront them again, will you interfere?"

Church knew that at this point he most certainly would. "No I wouldn't. It's none of my concern."

Irma could feel her captive's heartbeat accelerate very slightly; signaling the man's significant control over his body. But there were other minute signs of deception. His words were flat and even, lacking the amiable tone he used with her targets last night or the sarcastic one he used with her. His breathing evened out into something less natural, more like an archer focusing for a shot than a man breathing at a usual rate.

"I would suggest that you don't lie to me. At this point, you have almost zero value as a hostage; you aren't privy to what's going on here and you did not come for the sole purpose of assisting my enemies. That makes you nothing more than a bystander who could potentially get in my way."

There was a strange feeling of deja vu as Church listened to this; it all sounded awfully familiar, maybe something he had been told by a drill sergeant during sniper school. Enemies that held no strategic value but could still pose interference during a mission should be eliminated. But in this situation he wasn't exactly an enemy. He was a civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if this woman adhered to many of the same rules of the sniper -of the assassin- then killing Church would make him a non-target casualty. For most professionals, that was unacceptable.

"You could kill me now, without much backlash on your part, but you won't, will you? A master assassin prides him or herself on eliminating only the necessary individuals… and in this current situation, I'm not one of those, am I?"

There was a lengthy pause between the two strangers, neither of which knew anything about each other on an intimate level, but both able to discern the profession of the other. After the better part of a minute, Church felt the palm recede from his back, although the tempered steel of a knife was still held against his spine.

"For someone as well-versed in the assassin's code as you are, you are woefully easy to sneak up on."

Church allowed himself a rueful smile. He had never liked being called an assassin. He preferred the term soldier… it made him feel like less of a ruthless killer when he shot people, and more of a dutiful protector or something. That was probably a delusion on his part, but he was happy with it regardless.

"I've been out of the business for a while now. I'm more than a little rusty."

Church heard some sort of noise from the woman behind him: not a laugh by any stretch, but some sort of amused breath of air. At the same time, he felt the blade that had been holding him hostage move away from his vulnerable back. He said nothing as his captor turned on her heel and walked in the opposite direction.

Church craned his neck backwards to get a good look at her, curious of the appearance of someone he had held a conversation with, eager to put a face with a voice. Even though he only saw her retreating form, Church was not surprised to lay eyes on another downright gorgeous girl.

Tan skin, clearly a natural shade as opposed to an artificial one, captivated Church first, as he realized this was the first person with such a complexion he had met in this world. Everyone else had been white, or at least close to it. The next thing to catch his attention was her hair, which was a peculiar pale shade of light blue that Church easily could have mistaken for white if he didn't pay enough attention.

Then, like any man with a healthy sex drive, Church analyzed the tastier parts of the body that were clad in a very scant gray outfit with red lining that exposed practically everything for his viewing pleasure. The white fur on the edges of the vest and boots was a nice touch too.

The exotically beautiful woman stopped for a brief moment to turn back and face him, casting an indifferent gaze with her light red eyes at Church's own orbs, which had rapidly shifted from looking at her well-toned ass to her face as he realized she was turning around.

"I assume you will not give me a reason to come back and kill you by revealing what has just transpired to your friends."

It was obviously less of a question and more of a statement. Church felt like he was being commanded, but was too busy discreetly enjoying the wonderfully perky and half-exposed breasts being displayed to him so casually to feel irritable about it. Damn, sometimes it was a good life.

"I suppose I won't."

Without even a nod, she turned away from him and continued to walk away. Church felt a little put off, well aware that he had not learned anything substantial here…

"Do I at least get your name?"

The question's target stopped a second time, turning to look at Church with a raised eyebrow that signaled amusement, curiosity, and maybe a little bit of incredulity. It lasted for only a moment, before she turned away from him again, giving an answer he probably should have expected.

"No."

And with that, the mysterious beauty disappeared behind one of this region's numerous rock formations, leaving Church irked, confused, and probably a bit more aroused than a simple glance at a woman should have caused him to be.

* * *

><p>Ironically, Tomoe and Shizuka arrived on the scene just a few minutes after Church's encounter with the mysterious assassin. Against his better judgment, Church didn't mention said encounter to them. He knew it was wrong to hide the fact that she was still around from the people who were essentially her targets, but he also didn't know if the elusive woman was watching from some hidden crevice, observing everything with those alluring red eyes of hers.<p>

Church had no doubt in his mind that she could kill him many times over without breaking a sweat. In fact, everyone he had met so far could. He had never really seen Airi or Melona in action, but he was sure the two of them would have no trouble with someone like him as an opponent. Others like Alleyne, Echidna, and Nowa were all skilled warriors who could probably beat him up seven ways to Sunday even at their worst. Nyx could just blast him with fire, Nanael could probably paste him against a wall with her insane strength, and Tomoe and Shizuka were clearly out of his league as far as fighting was concerned.

Church grit his teeth at the thought of literally being weaker than everyone. Was he not strong enough to defeat anyone at all? Granted, he had bested a few soldiers here and there, but it was not as if they were elite commandos or anything. In fact, many of them had been greenhorns patrolling an out-of-the way town. Defeating a handful of them was nothing to boast about, really.

Not for the first time, Church felt utterly useless and pathetic. He was _supposed _to be a soldier. An elite one at that. And here he was cowering behind the aegis of some female warrior or another whenever shit got serious.

Well, maybe cowering wasn't the right word. He _tried _to fight when he could. He had fought Echidna rather than back down from her challenge back in the forest. He did his best to assist Nyx when she fought against Elina. But they were pitiable attempts at best. It was a desperate struggle on his part, and mostly a useless endeavor…

On one hand he felt worthless, but on the other he felt that his weakness was justified. He came from a world where fighting was done with bullets, reticules, and trajectories. A world where you could defeat your enemy by lobbing a grenade into his foxhole, or by dropping a bomb on him from thousands of feet in the air. Here, everything was a matter of skill: skill with crazy weapons and martial arts Church had never heard of. For God's sake, Airi fought with a scythe! If you carried a scythe around where Church was from it was either Halloween or you had escaped from a mental institute.

Scythes, swords, spears, and an ass-load of other shit Church had written off as weapons only seen in a Final Fantasy game. He would seriously have to learn how to do something, something like... like learn how to use a weapon himself. Such a simple idea, yet one Church had never thought of until right now, as he led Snow by the reins, walking alongside his Eastern acquaintances because their destination was in the same direction as his for now.

How many people had he met that were masters or experts of something? How many times could he have asked for someone to teach him to fight with a weapon? For crying out loud, Alleyne had been a damn instructor for God knows how long, and he never once asked her to teach him something combat related.

Church felt like kicking himself in the head for being so slow to fathom such a simple and obvious idea. Before he could attempt such a thing, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to Shizuka, who had once again wrapped her chest in bandages. She had a mixed expression of friendliness and curiosity on her face.

"Something on your mind, Church? You look a little lost there."

He shouldn't have been surprised all things considered. A ninja was supposed to be observant right? Reading people's faces was probably part of the job. "I'm all right. Just lost in my own thoughts."

He figured she would press the issue, being the slightly nosy person she was. So when Shizuka cocked an eyebrow at him, a silent gesture to urge him to continue, Church was again, not surprised.

"I was just thinking that I should learn how to fight properly sometime. I'm at a disadvantage against pretty much everyone I face… you know, including you guys the other night. I feel like I could be of more help if I knew how to face opponents on equal ground…"

Shizuka pursed her lips in thought. "Well there are other ways to be useful to your friends without necessarily fighting for them. Although just for the sake of protecting yourself from unsavory sorts, learning to use a weapon with some skill would be nifty. Why the sudden doubts though? Something happen?"

Church was reminded of his recent encounter with the dark-skinned warrior that day, and once again wondered if he should say something about it. After all, Tomoe and Shizuka deserved to know that someone with ill intent towards them was still around. But even if he didn't directly mention her presence, he could remind Shizuka that she was still out there… and hopefully she'd get the hint.

"Well, you know… you and Tomoe are really strong: a lot stronger than me. But you were still beaten by someone else, meaning that I'd be of almost no use if she were to appear again…"

Shizuka grimaced at the mention of her recent loss, but nodded nevertheless. Whether or not she picked up on Church's hidden meaning was indiscernible. "I guess that's true… but hey, you could always learn, just like you said. Mastering a weapon isn't easy, but you can do anything with practice. I'd even offer to train you a little bit, if we weren't going separate ways so soon."

The mention of splitting up with his new… friends, since they could be considered such at this point, temporarily pushed thoughts of acquiring new skills out of Church's mind. "And how soon is that exactly?"

"Roughly an hour or so, before our path splits off from yours. We're going south just like you, but towards the capital, not Bosk."

Church quirked an eyebrow at the silver-haired kunoichi. "Bosk?"

"It's the name of the village in the mountains you're heading to. I looked it up on the map earlier because not remembering the name of it was killing me. Anyway, your destination is a straight shot south, while the capital is more to the southeast. The road will split eventually, about an hour from where we are now."

Church felt a familiar pang of sadness at the thought of once again saying goodbye to people he had come to consider friends. Pretty much everyone he had gotten along with since arriving in this world had been separated from him at some point, and it was really starting to piss Church off.

The thought of traveling with Shizuka and Tomoe to the capital crossed his mind, and it was indeed a very tempting notion… but Church had promised Rachel that he would do something for her. She was relying on him to pull through for her and her daughter, and that was enough to keep him from suggesting that he tag along with the two women.

"It really sucks to have to just up and split like this after basically less than a full day."

That got a smile out of Shizuka, who called over to Tomoe, who was lost in meditation even as she walked. "Did you hear that Tomoe-sama? Church is all bummed out because he wanted to spend more time with us! Isn't that sweet?"

The raven-haired shrine maiden had to noticeably drag her focus away from her meditation as she looked over to her companions. She looked slightly dazed, like having suddenly waking up from a dream. Either way, her serene smile showed that she was quite pleased to hear Church's opinion of her and Shizuka.

"It most certainly is Shizuka-san. I had no idea he was so attached to us already."

Church rolled his eyes and did his best to avoid looking as flustered as he felt at the two women's teasing, regardless of how true it was. They were amiable, fun, and of course, beautiful people. Being attached to them within a day was a given.

"I think it's you two who are already attached to me. Who else could provide such good company on your lonely nights?"

Tomoe giggled, receiving the joke in its most innocent form. Naturally, Shizuka took a more scandalous connotation to heart, making a tantalizing pose and winking at the trio's only male. "Well I don't know Church: I haven't had enough nighttime experiences with you to really say if you would be my ideal partner for my lonely nights..."

Church and Tomoe both blushed, for different reasons of course. Either way, it was the first of many impish jokes to be shared between them all during their final hour together on this particular journey.

* * *

><p><strong>OK, so this is a little longer than my usual updates, but only by a bit. Anyway, I already explained why I've been absent for so long, and I hope you guys can forgive the delay. I planned on going further with this chapter but it's already reaching 5,500+ words and I still need to update everything else as well. It's good to be back, and I assure you all that the next update will not be so late.<strong>


	34. An Exchange of Company

**So, the most recent widely received feedback from you all is about Church's fighting abilities, or lack thereof. I'm glad to know that most of you are tired of seeing our hero lose all the time, but unfortunately you are going to have to wait just a little longer. He will become armed and dangerous, but not today. Probably not even tomorrow. But one day soon. That being said, the next few chapters are probably going to focus far more on relationships and far less on fighting. **

**And, for those of you who missed her, Alleyne is back with more 'meaningful' chapter time. And if she's around, the other elves are too. **

* * *

><p>"I suppose this is where we split."<p>

Church stood alongside Tomoe and Shizuka, holding Snow by the reins, as the trio stood before a fork in the beaten dirt road they had been traveling. It had been a merry last hour shared between the three of them, but it had come to an end all too soon.

Shizuka sighed and frowned, as displeased with this situation as Church was. He really was great company. "I guess it is. This last hour sure felt short..."

Tomoe nodded sagely, an action that seemed very befitting of her. "It is unfortunate that we could not travel together for a longer time. I truly did enjoy your presence, Church."

"Not as much as I enjoyed being with you and Shizuka I bet."

Shizuka nudged Church with her shoulder. "Oh, I'm sure. How could you not, with two bombshell beauties like us for company?"

Church rolled his eyes, barely even fazed by the flirty remark at this point, having been subject to so many in the past hour. Still, he smiled. "It's too bad I have this errand to run. I would have loved to come with you guys. Then again... even when I'm done, I won't have much of a reason to go to the capital... I actually don't know where I'll go when I'm done with this business in Bosk."

Shizuka wrapped an arm around Church's shoulders, leaning in and speaking in the most persuasive tone she could. "Well, you _could _come to the capital to watch the tournament when you're done, Church. Tomoe-sama's going to be competing you know? I bet she'd love an extra fan to cheer her on."

At the mention of a tournament, Church vaguely remembered Airi telling him about it, what seemed like an eternity ago. "Something blade, right? Fight to determine the next ruler and all?"

"That's the one."

"Seems like a woefully inefficient way to select a new ruler. Being a strong fighter doesn't mean you're the best suited to lead. Then again... I suppose the right to rule by blood isn't exactly the best way to choose a leader either. In the end, democracy is just the best way to go."

Shizuka cocked an eyebrow at him. "Democracy?"

"The greatest thing since sliced bread, trust me."

"I don't know about that Church, sliced bread is pretty hard to beat."

Church decided against explaining his stance on politics, especially in a world where the ruler was merely the strongest fighter. Instead, he tried to get his friends to further elaborate on his attending the tournament. "So if I do that... am I allowed to just walk into the stands? Is there like a fee or something? Wait, is there even an arena for this kind of thing?"

Tomoe smiled kindly at him, a little amused by his ignorance. "Well the preliminary fights can take place almost anywhere. Angels will supervise those battles and relay them to people all over the continent. The semi-finals will take place in an arena in Gainos, and the final battle against the Queen is at an as of yet undetermined location. Unfortunately, there is a fee for watching the tournament from the stands: if there weren't, the event wouldn't be nearly as large of a source of revenue."

Church's knitted his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, the preliminaries can be held anywhere? What's the point of going to the capital at all then?"

Shizuka wagged her index finger at him. "Well we still have to sign up, right? We could register in almost any town actually, but we figured it would be best to explore the capital anyway. Besides, there's a couple of months in-between the sign-up and the semi-finals. So there's plenty of time for the competitors to roam around and fight and all that."

This whole tournament setup made little to no sense to Church, but there was no point in asking how or why it was how it was. After all, neither Tomoe nor Shizuka had dictated the tournament rules. "What about you, Shizuka? Are you going to compete too?"

Shizuka waved her arms in front of her, making her statement of 'no way' quite clear. "C'mon Church, it may have only been a day or so, but I'm sure you can already tell that I wouldn't make a very good leader. I'd probably wreck the country in a week."

Well he couldn't disagree with that. Shizuka didn't exactly seem like national leader material. Still, it was disappointing. "That's a shame. I would have loved to see you out there."

The silver-haired ninja hid a slight blush behind a laugh, inwardly regretting now that she wasn't participating in the tournament after all. "W-well, maybe next time, Church."

The atmosphere would have quickly turned awkward had Tomoe not made a timely intervention, though it wasn't because she understood the social danger. "I truly regret cutting our time together short, but we must not tarry for much longer. Much of the day has already passed."

Church and Shizuka frowned simultaneously, both unhappy with the reminder. They were trying to stretch this moment out as long as possible, but in the end the amount of time that could be spared on this parting was the same. After all, both parties had places to be, and the sooner they got there the better.

Church sighed and scratched the back of his head. "This really bites... every time I meet someone new, I swear..."

Shizuka wrapped her arm around the distraught man. "Well it doesn't have to be that way, Church. Like I said, you could always come to the capital when you're done with your little errand. I'm sure we could find you with that bright red jacket of yours."

Church just smiled and nodded, not quite ready to agree with that plan of action. His plan had been to continue his search for Airi and Melona once he finished his business in Bosk, and Church didn't know if going to the capital was the best way to do that. Would those two even have a reason for going there? As far as he knew, neither Airi nor Melona was competing in the tournament. Then again, considering the fact that they never told him anything of importance, it was possible that they could be participating and he wouldn't even know about it.

Church must have been silent for a little too long, as Shizuka saw fit to tap him on the nose, startling him out of his thoughts. "Church? Hey, you get lost in there?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about whether or not to do that. The capital and all, I mean..."

Shizuka pouted and wrapped both arms around Church's neck, trying to nail him with guilt. "Please, Church? It couldn't really hurt, could it? I'm sure you would really enjoy it there. I know I'd enjoy it a lot more together."

Church could have sworn that Shizuka's words carried a slight pleading undertone to them, a genuine one, apart from her attempt to persuade him. It was barely there, but noticeable, especially to someone who had been trained to identify voices and tones. It was likely that Shizuka did not even realize that she was begging him to accept the idea, ever so subtly.

It was a mess of confusing emotions for Church. There were a lot of things he wanted to do, and naturally they just ended up conflicting with one another. For all he knew, going to the capital could prove nothing but detrimental as far as finding Airi and Melona was concerned. But of course he wanted to see Tomoe and Shizuka again.

Thinking about it, it struck Church as odd that such things were playing a major factor in his decision making. Shouldn't his life revolve more around him than others? That being said, maybe going to the capital was for the best after all. Airi and Melona were his friends, of course, but should he really make finding them again a priority? There were other people out there to be close to right? People like Shizuka and Tomoe. Maybe he should focus more on new friends and less on old ones.

It kind of hurt to say that, but logically, Church couldn't fault himself. Running around the entire continent looking for two people who were as mobile as he was just wasn't sensible. His chances of ever finding them like that were slim. He'd likely be better off just hoping that he ran into the two of them again at some point along his travels.

"You know what, I think I will. This tournament sounds interesting to watch... and of course I'd like to see the two of you again."

Shizuka practically beamed at him, a far cry from the merely pleased and gentle smile Tomoe sported. "Well of course, who wouldn't want to send more time with us? I knew you'd figure out the right answer."

Church smiled back at her, a little half-hardheartedly, both pleased and put off by his decision. For now, he figured it was best to go along with it. "Oh no, it's _you _who wants to spend more time with _me, _don't get it backwards."

That elicited a laugh from both girls, who both seemed in a more chipper mood now that Church had decided to try and reunite with them later. "Speaking of which, you _do _know how to get there, right Church?"

"Well I figure I could just return to this point here and go down the other road, right? Besides, I do have a map. I'm sure I could figure it out either way."

Shizuka clapped him on the shoulder. "Well you'd better. I'd be awfully disappointed if this was the last time I saw you just because you're bad with directions."

The trio shared a few more jokes between themselves, if only to make the goodbye last a little bit longer. But eventually the two girls did have to depart, and the humor was toned down a little bit in exchange for some more sincere goodbyes. Tomoe settled for a respectful bow, which really wasn't enough for Church, but exactly what he expected from someone so reserved. Shizuka on the other hand, had a full-blown hug to offer, along with a quick peck on the cheek that Church found way more tantalizing than he probably should have.

"See you later Church. Try not to make us wait too long, you hear? It's bad luck to keep pretty girls waiting."

Church was so busy staring down at those silver lips of hers that he almost forgot to respond. "Uh, r-right... I won't be long, I promise. Trust me, I want to see you again as soon as possible..."

Shizuka winked at him as she retreated back to Tomoe's side. "Oh, I'm sure. The feeling's mutual you know."

Tomoe, clueless as ever as far as something like flirting was concerned, bowed once more. "Goodbye, Church. I hope we'll see you again, sooner than later."

Church nodded, a genuine smile plastered on his face. "Likewise. Bye, Tomoe."

Shizuka opted for blowing a kiss at him. "Later, Church! If you need more motivation to hurry, just remember that if you don't show up you'll be missing a really good time! Don't keep me waiting forever, alright?"

The flirtatious comment itself was just Shizuka's usual banter, but her last words weren't lost on him, and neither was the, once again, slightly pleading undertone in them. "I promise I won't Shizuka. I... I won't keep you waiting for too long."

Those were the final words exchanged between the trio that day, but their thoughts dwelt on one another long after they went their separate ways.

"Shizuka-san, I don't think I've ever seen you so friendly towards anyone: not even me. You're awfully fond of Church to have just met him the other day."

The two women walked along their own path, and the conversation naturally drifted to their newest and recently departed friend. Shizuka crossed her arms over her head and smiled at Tomoe's assessment. "Well, I'd have to say you're right, Tomoe-sama. Church is definitely the first guy I've crushed this hard on."

"What? S-Shizuka-san, but you just met him!"

"Well I guess it doesn't take long for him to work his magic... heh... or maybe I'm just weak-willed."

Shizuka shrugged, not at all displeased that she had been smitten by a man over the course of merely a day and a half. This light and airy feeling in her chest may not have been love, but whatever emotion she was experiencing, it sure felt great.

* * *

><p>There were no beds in the isolated forest Alleyne and her companions trekked through that day, but lack of such a convenience did not truly have anything to do with the blond warrior's current predicament.<p>

Sleep had mostly eluded Alleyne last night, as it had for the past couple of days. She was not sure why this occurred, but could only attribute it to the tension that surrounded her group. About a week ago, there had been a group consensus that the three women in the party would register for the upcoming Queen's Blade tournament, for varying reasons. Nowa was in it for the experience, something Alleyne fully supported, as she knew it would help her student grow in many ways, more than just physically. Echidna had decided to join in for what she described as 'entertainment', which Alleyne could honestly see as a legitimate reason coming from someone like Echidna.

As for her, Alleyne herself did not know why exactly she was going to register. She certainly didn't aspire to be Queen, and if she happened to make it that far, would probably forfeit. Neither was it for the experience, having had plenty of that throughout her long life. If she was to be completely honest with herself, Alleyne had to admit that she had probably decided to join simply for _fun. _For the first time in centuries, Alleyne had to admit that she was bored, and needed something to do.

If anything, it was also because she felt a little lost. Most of Alleyne's long life had revolved around the village. She had spent countless years defending it, training its warriors, and being a figure of guidance. Without it she was little more than an experienced warrior without a home. Even Nowa needed her less and less as time wore on, as the girl was growing more independent of her teacher every day, even in her training. It left Alleyne without much of a purpose.

That may have been the only reason for this foolish tournament business. Either way, the decision had been made, and now the elven group was making their way to Gainos for that exact purpose. Lucas had vehemently opposed the idea, but unwilling to separate from Nowa, had decided to stay with the group regardless. Still, his bitter feelings towards both Alleyne and Echidna were ever-present, and the concern that the rash and reckless boy would make a foolish move on either of them persisted at all times.

Honestly, Alleyne had no idea why Lucas chose to stick around, involving himself in a group that consisted of two people he absolutely despised for no other reason than to try and garner Nowa's attention. Alleyne was a far cry from an expert on romance, but even to her, it was obvious that Lucas' feelings for her apprentice were not reciprocated. The brunette half-elf was friendly and kind with him, but she was like that with everyone. There was no longing or desire or admiration in her honey-brown eyes when she looked at Lucas. Currently, he was nothing more than a friend. Maybe Lucas just couldn't see that.

At first Alleyne had thought it was because romance was something still out of Nowa's social scope, but it didn't take long to realize that wasn't necessarily true. After all, the girl was seventeen, and not nearly as naive as most people assumed she was. In fact, if some of the conversations the mentor and student had shared recently were any indication, Nowa was taking a healthy interest in the opposite gender: one man in particular.

Maybe Alleyne was too. Maybe she had been wooed by the kind, amiable, and considerate human too, without even realizing it. The mere thought of _love: _and especially loving another _person, _scared Alleyne to no small extent. She was, for all intents and purposes, an anti-social introvert who barely managed to keep up a friendship with Echidna and Nowa and no one else. The idea of a romantic relationship with anyone, even someone like Church, was almost inconceivable at this point, most likely because the combat master just wouldn't be able to handle such a thing.

Still, her cheeks flushed just slightly when she thought of him, which was often. It was strange, because Alleyne couldn't remember being like this even when he was still around. She had of course heard that absence made the heart grow fonder, but this was beyond what she had expected. Whatever emotions she felt towards the man, even though she had not seen him in several weeks, were clearly not just platonic.

"Hey Alleyne, you're blushing again. _Someone _on your mind?"

The blond elf beauty cast an irritable glare at Echidna, who had her hands folded behind her head as she walked along the unnamed forest with the others. "I don't see how it is any of your business who I am thinking about."

That elicited a smug smirk from the green-haired mercenary. "So it is a who, huh? That man is the only person you think about these days, wouldn't you say?"

While her reference was not specific, it was clear to everyone who Echidna was talking about. Usually a composed woman, Alleyne was so unused to being teased about a man that she couldn't control the scowl that dominated her face at the remark. "Nothing of the sort! I assure you that my relationship with him is strictly that of a friend! Besides, he is far too young for me to consider for something like... like what you are insinuating!"

Nowa, who was walking just a little further ahead alongside Lucas, turned back to look at her mentor. "There's nothing wrong with considering Church for that, is there Captain? Miss Echidna said that age doesn't matter in relationships."

Alleyne shot another glare at the snake-obsessed woman. "Why am I not pleased with you giving my student relationship advice?"

"Well I've got more experience than you, don't I? Out of all of us, I'm the only one who's not a virgin."

"That's not necessarily something to be proud of. Besides, there is more to a relationship than that!"

Echidna winked at the woman. "Well if you believe that, you must have been thinking about it for awhile now, Alleyne. How long have you been fantasizing over an ideal relationship with him?"

Alleyne refrained from making any retort, lest she dig her grave any deeper. It was almost unheard of for her to be anything less than collected in conversation, so being so awkward and unsure of her own words was unsettling.

Echidna took that as a victory, but decided to gloat silently. Even Nowa had to stifle a giggle at her teacher's expense. Lucas was literally the only person less amused than Alleyne. "What's so great about this person you're all talking about anyway? I met him once and he was little more than a pushover."

Nowa frowned at the boy. "Don't say that about him! Church is an amazing person, even if he isn't the strongest fighter!"

Lucas tried his hardest to fight down a disgusted look, though he failed miserably. "If he's too weak to achieve his goals he's worthless. Isn't that obvious?"

In what was a very rare occasion, Nowa glared at her male companion. It was surprisingly ferocious, which may have had something to do with how out of place it was on her face. "That's enough! I won't let you say things like that about Church. As long as I'm around, you'd better keep it to yourself."

The whole group gawked at the girl in surprise. That was probably the meanest thing Nowa had ever said to anyone, ever. Although even then, she was being mean in the defense of another person. Lucas himself was the most flabbergasted of them all. The girl he had never heard a harsh word from in his childhood was not only using them now, but directing them at him. And in the defense of another man, no less!

"Come now, Nowa, there is no need to be like that over someone who is merely an acquaintance!"

At this, Nowa's angry countenance changed to one more embarrassed than anything else. She even began to press her index fingers together, further cementing the notion. "W-well... he's not just an acquaintance to me... I-I mean, he's more than that..."

Echidna seemed to be overjoyed by this development, if her next words were anything to go by. "Wow, the master _and _the student both enthralled by the same man? This just keeps getting better! Next thing you know I'll be all over him too..."

Nowa blushed furiously, while her teacher's was slightly more subdued. "W-well, like I said, he's really amazing, a-and... er, I don't really know, this is the first time I've felt this way about somebody... I mean, I love you guys too, but it's not the same. When I think about Church, I just... I get really happy. I can't really explain it."

Lucas' expression was a mix of many negative emotions, among them resentment, anger, and betrayal. Alleyne could see it all, and it was likely that Echidna could too, but chose to ignore it. Honestly, Alleyne had no idea why the boy felt so betrayed when Nowa had never really felt that way about him in the first place. Besides, although she felt just the slightest bit guilty about the thought, Alleyne was glad that Nowa had chosen to feel as she did towards someone like Church and not towards a self-pitying child like Lucas.

If Echidna really had taken notice of anything unusual in Lucas' countenance, she chose to ignore it completely. "Well, I can't say I blame either of you. He is a pretty interesting guy, and not half-bad in the looks department. If I ever get bored with the ladies I might decide to swing in his direction: unless the two of you would be there to fight me off, of course."

Not willing to be goaded, Alleyne crossed her arms and kept walking, wondering how the entire conversation had managed to turn onto the one person she couldn't get out of her head in the first place.

* * *

><p>Church hadn't been on his own road for long when he got the distinct feeling that someone was watching him. It wasn't a dangerous feeling, but present, nevertheless. Despite the non-threatening aspect of this feeling, Church couldn't help but wonder if he was possibly being followed by the same dark-skinned assassin he had met earlier that day, although he had no idea why she would be following him instead of Tomoe and Shizuka.<p>

He scanned his surroundings for telltale signs of his stalker, looking around the terrain that was slowly becoming mountainous as his path took him ever higher. He didn't spot anyone, but honestly wasn't surprised. It was very likely that the woman he believed was following him was a master of stealth, she likely would not reveal herself until-

"Hey! Stop right there!"

In a moment of confusion, Church thought the assassin might have actually called him out, and in such an uncharacteristic way. However, it was indeed only a moment, for the voice that called him was not the smooth and suave tone of that tanned beauty, but a far more brusque voice that he recognized quite easily. Looking up, he spotted the two flashes of white, blue, and pink he had been expecting, as the only two angels he was acquainted with descended to the ground.

Before Church could utter a single word of greeting, Nanael jabbed a gloved finger at him. "You thought you could just run off and avoid us forever, huh? Well sorry, but we're not that easy to get rid of!"

Church cocked an eyebrow in response to the accusation, feigning indignation. "I'll have you know that I was quite worried about the both of you. And yet here you are trying to accuse me of evading you. How rude."

Nanael's arm dropped as she struggled to find some sort of response. The idea that someone besides Hachiel would be worried about her well-being threw her off her game a bit. Fortunately, Hachiel picked up the slack. "We're pleased to see that you are alright as well. After the catastrophe at the castle, I had feared the worst for you."

It felt good to have people worrying about him, and cute girls to talk to was always a nice thing, but neither could keep Church from asking the obvious question here. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but what are you two doing here? This is kind of the middle of nowhere."

Nanael's hands went to her hips. "You've forgotten already, huh? You owe us for rescuing you and your friends back at the castle! Without us you'd still be in a cell!"

"And I'm very grateful, but how am I supposed to repay you? You're angels, surely there's nothing worthwhile a human could give you."

Hachiel was honestly not surprised that Church had forgotten what she had last asked of him. She and Nanael had been keeping an eye on him ever since they managed to find him the other day with those two women from Hinomoto, and they were not oblivious to his fiasco in Alabaster Town either. The man got around quickly.

"Well, for now our request is very simple. You seem to like traveling with company: I don't suppose you would mind ours?"

Church smiled, ever eager to acquire the companionship of others. Why angels would want to travel with him, he dared not question, lest he jinx himself.

"Well I don't see why not."

* * *

><p><strong>You know, I myself had no idea the dialogue alone would make a normal length chapter this time around. Before even writing the last section, I had over the normal set length.<strong>

**Anyway, I don't know if there will be any questions about the kind of interactions that went down this chapter, but if you do, feel free to PM or review or send a message to ask in some way, shape, or form. **

**And you know, as far as characters are concerned, I rather like a less naive, somewhat less childish Nowa. So you can probably expect more than that.**

**Anyway, until next time.**


	35. A Window to the Soul

**It's taken a little longer than expected to get this chapter out, and it's probably because I wrote a super long, God forsaken chapter for Manifest Destiny. Speaking of which, it seems like that fic might not be worth continuing, if things don't change soon. So, if any of you are Naruto fans and you're fond enough of my style, check that story out. If it turns out to be wasted effort on the whole, I'll likely just drop the fic and save myself the trouble.**

**Anyway, it occurred to me that Airi and Melona haven't been heard from in like, six chapters. So you can be assured that we'll get back to them again, so we can see how things are developing with them.**

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><p>It was funny, how easily stereotypes could be shattered. The misconceptions of men were so fragile if they came face to face with what they had always judged. That was why Church was so utterly fascinated with Nanael, and to a lesser extent, Hachiel as well. He learned something new and startling about them every minute they traveled on the mountain road to Bosk.<p>

Church had always imagined angels to be the epitome of perfection in every way. Physically perfect and unblemished, mentally pure in every way, and so on. But that misconception had not lasted even the first five seconds of his union with Nanael and Hachiel. Even though they were angels, both girls were so _human. _Unbelievably so. Hachiel was kind and pure of heart, that was true. But she still got nervous about things, still worried and fretted over tiny details and overall plans. Nervousness and worry did not go with perfection.

And then there was Nanael. She was so human that it was hard to believe she was some sort of holy being at all. She was as flawed as any person in personality; she was brusque, and rude, and occasionally quite vain. She could also be arrogant, annoying, and lazy, and a number of other things that Church never figured an angel would be. And of course, there was her wing: a bodily imperfection, and definitely a very big one. It was not like having a mole or crooked nose or something (Neither of which Nanael had). Her wings were a huge part of Nanael's body, and for lack of a better word, they were flawed.

Was it on purpose? Did God make her that way, for some particular reason? God himself was supposed to be all-powerful: it was not as if he could 'mess up' while creating an angel, right?

Church looked over his shoulder as he rode Snow, eying the blue-haired angel riding on the rear because she was too lazy to fly the entire time, and thought walking was beneath her. She was sitting in reverse, with her back facing him and her wings curled inward to avoid bumping into Church, and it made the pathetically small right wing so much more obvious. She was not perfect: far from it, she was the last person Church ever would've thought of as an angel. But for some reason, none of Nanael's flaws caused him to dislike her. In fact, they only intrigued him more.

"Are we there yet? How far is this place anyway?"

Hachiel, who was still gently soaring a few feet above her companions, cast a disapproving look down at her angelic comrade. "Nanael, it's only been ten minutes since the last time you asked that. Have some patience."

The blue-haired girl stuck her tongue out at Hachiel. "Patience? We could have been there forever ago if we had just flown there!" Then she turned towards Church. "Can't this thing go any faster?"

Church scowled, knowing that making Snow move any faster than a snail's pace was impossible. The mare was stubborn as all hell, and if he were cruel enough to whip it for speed, it was unlikely that Snow would even feel it anyway. So no, his mode of transportation could not go any faster. "Sorry Nanael, but Snow doesn't really take orders all that well. But if you guys want to fly ahead, I don't mind."

He figured that Nanael would seriously consider doing just that, but after giving him a peculiar look, she merely shrugged. "If we did we'd just have to wait there for you, so I might as well sit right here."

Church wanted to think she was staying because she enjoyed his company, but it was more likely that both she and Hachiel needed something from him. After all, every time he had run into the duo, they had been hell-bent on getting answers out of him, although he wasn't sure what problem of theirs he could have the answer to. He wanted to be helpful, but although the angels had been accompanying him for the better part of an hour, neither of them had asked him a pointed question.

"Well you know, talking can make the time fly by faster. And besides, I get the feeling you two want to 'talk' anyway, right?"

Hachiel answered him from above. "We do have some questions, but for now it can wait. Let's talk about something else. Something fun."

"Like what?"

Nanael offered an answer this time. "Tell us if you're straight or not, Church."

"What?! Why the hell do you need to know that? And yes, I am, thank you very much. What the hell did you ask that for?"

Nanael allowed herself a smirk. "I was just checking. I needed to know."

"Why?"

"Let's just call it 'personal interest.'"

On one hand that answer was insufficient, but on the other, Church was afraid to inquire further. Also on the list of Nanael's imperfect qualities was her rather unhealthy interest in men. Of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing...

Hachiel loosed a heavy sigh, used to her friend's antics, but not supporting them, as always. "Nanael, with your personality, I really don't think a harem is ever going to be possible for you."

The rather unsavory idea of a harem caught Church's attention, and he couldn't help but note it was the first thing he now disliked about Nanael. She must not have noticed his sour look though, because she retorted to Hachiel unfazed. "I don't know what you're talking about, Hachi. I'm charming, funny, and beautiful. Who wouldn't want to be with all of this?"

It may have been his imagination, but Church could have sworn he heard a very slight, bitter undertone in Nanael's boasts. It even sounded slightly mocking, or self-deprecating, and it occurred to Church that maybe Nanael herself didn't believe what she was saying.

"Besides, I bet Church here wouldn't mind sharing me with some other men, right?"

Brought out of his own thoughts by the idea of something that he would never do, Church put his musings over Nanael beside. "Wrong. If I were in a relationship with someone, I'd want it to be deeper than just physical attraction. I'd never want to share the person I loved."

Nanael frowned at him, although it held a small amount of thought in it, and Church allowed himself a small smirk, afraid he had, in a roundabout sort of way, called Nanael shallow. "Besides, I'd much rather have you to myself if I was going to have you at all."

He had meant it as a joke, hoped that Nanael would laugh it off and say something witty back to him, maybe something about how he could never be enough for her, but Nanael's reaction was far from a smile and a laugh. The moment those words left Church's mouth, Nanael scowled more deeply than anyone he had ever seen, and took off from Snow's back and into the air in hardly a few seconds. She muttered something to Hachiel above and then flew off in the opposite direction Church was going.

Church gazed after her retreating form confusedly, wondering what he could have possibly said that had upset the angel so quickly and so completely. He thought he'd been complimenting her, but apparently not.

Hachiel saw the concerned look on his face. "Do not look so worried Church. She'll be back, and she'll be smiles and smirks again, trust me."

If that was meant to reassure him, it didn't. "But what did I say that upset her? I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

Hachiel sighed, long and weary, and it made her seem much older than the young girl she appeared to be. Then again, as an angel, maybe she was. "You accidentally brushed on a sore spot for her, that's all. She won't hold it against you, as I'm sure she knows you had no intention of doing so."

Church cocked an eyebrow at the golden-eyed angel. "And this sore spot is...?"

"I'm afraid it's a personal matter to Nanael, Church. It's not my place to tell you without her permission."

The ex-soldier nodded in understanding. He knew how it felt, wanting to keep personal affairs to one's self. He and Hachiel continued towards Bosk in silence for a few minutes, though Hachiel decided to ask another question before long. "Church, may I ask you a question? You do not have to answer if you don't want to."

"Ask away."

"Do you think Nanael is inferior to me?"

Church whipped his head around to cast a sharp look at Hachiel, as her question could have been interpreted in many ways, one of which was hoping Church would say yes. But the look on the angel's face was not looking for gratification. She was asking a genuine question of him, for the sole sake of knowing his thoughts.

"Should I?"

Hachiel tried her best to say the next line without sounding cruel or mean, and although she meant it neither way, the facts themselves just sounded insulting. "Nanael is loud, obnoxious, and often times considered a nuisance. She's also clumsy, foolish, and not terribly bright. Physically, she flies slower and more awkwardly than all of the other angels, and is the only angel in heaven with such an obvious physical defect. If you thought she was inferior to me, or even inferior to yourself, I would not be surprised."

Church took all of these facets of Nanael's personality into consideration, knowing that they were probably all true. Because if Hachiel, her best friend, was saying them, how could they not be? The mention of being the only 'flawed' angel also gave Church a rough idea of what may have upset Nanael so much. He had jokingly said he would rather have her to himself, but it had been a joke, after all. Usually, that meant the joker himself would never do whatever was implied. It was likely that Nanael had interpreted his jest as meaning that he would never want her himself, although that was not the truth.

"No. I don't think she's inferior to either of us, or anyone else for that matter. Everything you said about her is probably true: I'm sure you know better than I do. And sure, she's got some qualities most people would consider irritating, but I can tell that she's a genuinely kind person underneath all of that. As for the wing, I can't think of anything that could make her a more unique individual."

Hachiel smiled, gentle and warm, something that seemed to be a specialty of hers. "If you truly believe that, then I beg you to find the time to tell her you think so."

Church smiled back, now eagerly wanting Nanael to return. He was going to make that girl smile, and not one of those slightly faked smiles she used when bragging about herself. He would let her know that she was every bit as amazing and unique as anyone else in this world, and he was going to make her smile for real. That would be his mission for as long as he had the opportunity of traveling with her, and if there was one thing he never screwed up at, it was accomplishing a mission.

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><p>Tardiness was something that did not sit well with Airi. She prided herself on being efficient in everything, which probably had something to do with her past life as a maid. She had been subservient to a man once, and terribly mistreated besides. Trying to do everything to the best of her ability had been drilled into her head when she was young, because if she did things right, there were less reasons for her master to hurt her.<p>

That all seemed like a lifetime ago, and that fat bastard was dead now, courtesy of Airi herself, but the need to be efficient in everything still persisted in her. That was why being so late in returning to the swamp was making her anxious and irritable. The Witch was unforgiving in every way, and would no doubt be furious that she and Melona had taken so long to return.

No matter what excuse they used, they would both probably be punished for some reason or another. Their original mission, which felt further in the past than in actually was, had been to bring the wayward Menace back to the one who had resurrected her. Of course, that had ended in failure. That was months ago, back in the desert where they had met Church for the first time.

Soaring through the air, Airi allowed herself a small smile at the memory. She could remember disliking Church at first, thinking he was little more than an ungrateful pervert. She had been kind of unfair to him at the time, always accusing him of lewd thoughts or perverted glances. But he had grown on her so quickly, had her laughing and smiling in no time, becoming someone important to her with almost no effort on his part. Maybe it was his charm, or his smile, or his friendliness and concern for others, but something had made him almost irresistible to the wraith. The fact that he had even gained Melona's favor was a testament to how hard it was to resist him.

Reminded of her presence, Airi glanced back at Melona, who was leisurely walking down the road quite some ways behind her. She apparently had no sense of urgency in returning to the swamp, something that had not made Airi any friendlier towards her. The two of them had barely spoken a word to one another since their spat back in Alabaster town, which had been more than half a week ago. Strangely, the silence between them seemed to stem from different causes.

Airi was still furious at the slime for the nonchalant way she had slighted Church's friendship and importance to them, and she had suspected that Melona was angry at her for the way she had spoken to her, but there was no evidence of it on her part. There hadn't been any scowls, nasty glares, or poorly concealed middle fingers sent Airi's way at all, and that led the redhead to believe that Melona was silent for an entirely different reason, although she couldn't tell what.

She was somber and melancholy, a startling contrast to the pink, the ears, and the shameless getup that pretty much defined Melona's appearance. Quiet was something that just didn't seem to match up with her personality at all. Airi was slightly concerned about her behavior: even though she was livid with the girl, the two of them were still friends, in a manner of speaking.

Even so, Airi didn't feel the need to stop and ask Melona about it. At this stage of the game, anything that could delay her return to the Witch seemed unnecessary. Not for the first time, this fanatical loyalty conflicted with Airi's personal wishes. She was far too kind for her 'line of work.' She rarely ever killed anyone unless it was specifically required of her, and more often than not, she would interrupt a task of her own accord to assist a child whose cat was stuck in a tree, or an old lady who was carrying a little too much for someone her age.

She was _nice, _and that made her job all the more difficult. Airi didn't really like hurting other people, as she knew better than anyone how it felt to be abused and mistreated. But even that understanding wouldn't shake her loyalty to the Witch. She had been spared from a horrible eternity in the afterlife only by the Witch's grace, and for that, she had Airi's complete loyalty.

So she shook the thoughts of Melona out of her head for now, opting to return her mind to more pleasant things. More pleasant things generally meant Church these days, as little else that had happened in Airi's life could be considered 'pleasant.' She remembered how distraught she had been when the fool tumbled off a cliff and down into the forest below, almost certain he was dead or fatally wounded. She still didn't know how Church had survived that ordeal, and she had never thought to ask him.

She could also remember the frustrating weeks spent searching the massive forest for any sign of him, all the while asking herself why she was using her time to do so when she should have been returning to the Witch like she was supposed to. At the time she hadn't had an answer, but now it was clear: had her or Melona been the victim of that rock-slide instead, Church wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to try and save them, even if, as a spirit and a slime, they would have been unharmed.

It briefly occurred to her that Melona had been right there alongside her, searching for the man they'd lost, and Airi now finally realized how strange that had been. She had believed Melona had only helped her then not because she cared about Church's safety, but because she would use any excuse to slack off and defy the Swamp Witch. For fun, mostly. But Melona was childish in patience, and she would have never spent weeks taking part in a manhunt for the heck of it.

Airi's anger with said woman subsided a little as this occurred to her, but in a rare display of spitefulness, the scarlet-haired beauty shoved it aside once again. She ignored Melona and skipped her memories forward to the moment she had found Church again, slumped against a tree and beaten, but alive nevertheless. She had been so ecstatic to see him again, so blissfully happy to know that he was alright, even though, at that point, she had really only known him for less than a few weeks.

After they reunited, they had all left the forest together, but Airi had been woefully depressed by something Melona had said. She had thought Church would ignore it, especially after she specifically asked him to, but of course that had not been the case. That insufferable dope had been far too concerned to let it rest, and had pushed and prodded Airi until she managed to get a grip on her thoughts and feelings. She had kissed him then, if only on the cheek, and Airi couldn't help but wonder if she would have been a little more bold, had she known they would be separated so soon afterwards.

There was a series of other small things, memories of their short time together, including the incident in which his injuries from the forest incapacitated him, only for Melona to leave him behind in spite. Airi had been angry with the slime then as well, but Melona had reconciled with Church on her own just a few nights later.

Then there was the infiltration into Vance territory, an unseen herald of their separation... and finally, there was the knoll. That grassy hill overlooking Vance castle, where she had tried to tell Church how important he was to her, but had been far too general and vague. She had told him that he was not shallow; but she didn't tell him how much she liked him, how much she enjoyed his company, or how happy he made her just by being there. There were so many things she should have said, but didn't. If only she had known how things would turn out...

Suddenly losing the heart to continue on, Airi descended from the air and landed on the road ahead of Melona, who would probably take five or ten minutes to catch up from where she was. Airi would wait for her: maybe if she could get the girl to act like herself again, she would distract the redhead from the regrets that haunted her mind right now.

But until she caught up, Airi was left to her own thoughts. Her feelings for Church were a confusing maelstrom of negativity, and it occurred to her that she had probably been suppressing them, causing them to be even more acute. The most prominent among these feelings was bitterness and regret. Airi clutched at the ribbon around her chest, inwardly berating herself for her foolishness and indecision in the past. There were so many things she should have done, should have said to him... now it was too late, and it was very likely that there would never be another chance.

That thought alone caused such pain for her. Would she never see him again? Had fate decided that their time together was over, and so soon? It was almost like a physical blow, coming to the realization that he was out of her reach, and likely forever.

Was this what it felt like to love someone? To care about them so much that the mere act of being separated caused physical pain? If it was, then Airi had to admit to herself that maybe she loved Church, and had just been slow in realizing it.

Reining in her thoughts long enough to look behind her once more, Airi saw that her companion had finally caught up to her position. This was good, because there was something Airi had to clear up, especially now that she had sorted her own turbulent emotions. "Melona?"

The pink slime had been planning on passing the wraith, being in no mood to talk, but stopped at the sound of her name and offered Airi her attention, although she still refrained from saying anything.

Since it was obvious that Melona's attention was on her, Airi continued with her query. "I need to know... I need to know if you really believe the things you said about him back at that town."

Although his name had not been mentioned, it was clear who Airi was referring to, and Melona's expression immediately shifted to one of distaste. "I don't want to talk about this again."

"Melona please, I need to know this. I'm not looking for a fight. Whatever your answer, I won't act on it. It's none of my business how you feel about someone, but in just this one instance, I really need to know."

She had aimed to make her words reassuring, but if anything, Melona looked more uncomfortable than before. "And why do you need to know, 'in this one instance?'"

Airi pondered how to put her feelings into words, resulting in a few moments of silence between the two of them. "I just... I feel like... like things were better when he was here. Maybe I'm wrong, but looking back on it, weren't we happier? Since he's been gone, I feel like something really important is missing for me, and even for you. I don't think I had seen you smile, genuinely and just because you were really happy, until he became a part of our dynamic. I was just... wondering if I was mistaken."

Melona directed a glare at the ground beneath her feet, clearly agitated, though it didn't seem to be directed at Airi specifically. "I...I don't know, Airi. He was... I mean I didn't... I didn't think he actually thought of me as a friend. I always felt like I was a third wheel between the two of you."

It was strange to hear such things from Melona of all people, but Airi knew the slime had feelings like this as well, even if she hid them abysmally deep. "But he didn't mean to alienate you like that. Even if he did, it wasn't on purpose."

The bunny-eared girl crossed her arms under her sizable bust and cast her gaze to the sky, the tiniest of smiles on her face. "Yeah, I know. It was because he was a clueless moron more than anything else, right?"

Airi was in no mood to laugh, but managed a smile of her own, at the very least. "Right."

Melona folded her arms behind her head, seemingly in a better mood than before. "Then I guess I was being stupid myself back in town. Yeah, he's my friend. There's no denying it anymore. But I'll still beat some sense into that dope next time we see him. He's definitely gonna learn to spend more time with me next time!"

Airi's smile faltered at the mention of a reunion with Church, which she was losing more hope for every day. "How can you be sure that there'll be a next time, Melona?"

"Are you kidding? That idiot is probably looking high and low for us, and even if he isn't, he's always where there's trouble, and you and I are the ones who are gonna be causing trouble for a long time. We'll see him again: I don't think fate would let us get away even if we wanted to."

That was enough to bring a gentle smile back to Airi's face, although she was somewhat surprised to be receiving assurance from Melona of all people, which led to another question entirely. "Melona?"

"Yeah?"

"What about the two of us? I know we're on the same side, but are we actually friends?"

Melona gave the wraith a peculiar glance before directing her eyes elsewhere. "Well I don't know. Do you think we are?"

"I'd like to think so."

Melona's bunny ears twitched in a rather peculiar way, one that Airi couldn't associate with anything other than mild nervousness. "Then I suppose we are."

Not yet content with her answer, Airi prodded the girl just a little further. "Are what?"

The pinkette glared at her with mild displeasure. "I suppose we are... _friends, _Airi. There. Is that good enough?"

With a content nod, Airi began to move forward again, although she decided to walk with Melona this time, who was now sticking her tongue out as though she had tasted something bitter.

"What are you doing now, Melona?"

"It just feels weird to use that word, alright? I'm not used to it."

"I think what you meant to say was that it feels nice, right?"

She only received another glare for her trouble. "Don't push it, Airi. This is already the friendliest I've been in like, twenty years."

"...exactly how old are you, anyway? How long do slimes live?"

"...let's just let sleeping dogs lie, Airi. There's no need for anyone to know the answer to that question."

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><p>About an hour after she had left, Nanael returned to her companions, and just as Hachiel had predicted, her attitude was all cheer. Had Church not witnessed her behavior earlier, he never would have guessed that she had been in a bad mood at all. She was smiling and laughing and boasting just like she always did, though the smiles never stretched very far, and the laughs were all kept short.<p>

For someone like Church, it was painfully obvious that the blue-haired angel was still quite bothered. Her attempts at throwing up a carefree front did nothing to deceive him.

Eager to tell the angel what he felt she needed to hear, it was hard for Church to play along with Nanael's facade: traveling on the road, with Hachiel right above them, was not the time to have an intimate conversation with Nanael. It would be far too impersonal.

That being said, Church wasn't even sure why he was so hell-bent on doing this. He did not actually know Nanael all that well. He had encountered her only twice before now, and both times had been brief and involved little in getting to know her. In fact, he had learned more about her in the past hour or two than he had in his previous two encounters with her. With the small amount of interaction they had experienced, it may have not even been appropriate to call her a friend, even though Church would have liked to do so.

So why was he so invested in the feelings of someone who was little more than an acquaintance? She seemed to be functioning well enough without his input, and she probably didn't consider Church her friend anyway. But there was an unmistakable look in her bright green gaze, whenever Church could hold it for a few seconds, that screamed at him to try and help her. Even when she was smiling, or laughing, Church could see something under the surface, something hiding away from the world behind a wall of false mirth and cheer.

He had seen it before, in others. He had seen it in soldiers that returned from botched missions. He had seen it in civilians who had lost loved ones to one war or another. And above all, he had seen it in himself. For a full year after Church had failed to save that child in Baghdad, he had acted exactly like Nanael was right now. Around his comrades, friends, and family, he would act as though nothing were amiss. He would laugh at their jokes, smile when they greeted him, and hang out with them like he was supposed to. But when he looked in a mirror, he could see how tortured his gaze was.

It was that moment that Church agreed that the eyes were most definitely the windows to the soul. His eyes had been dim then: they lacked whatever spark he usually carried within him, but no one noticed, because Church had hidden his innermost feelings so effectively. That feeling of loneliness, of depression, that feeling of worthlessness, of having no purpose... Church knew what that felt like. He knew Nanael was feeling it now. And he knew he would do everything in his power to save her from it, because no one deserved to suffer so completely. Whether she was a friend or merely an acquaintance made no difference.

"Oh? Is that the village up ahead?"

Hachiel's serene voice sliced through the heavy thoughts on Church's mind, and he looked up from Snow's saddle to see the village of Bosk before him, a sight he had longed to see for quite some time. Besides Nanael, he still had a promise to keep to Rachel and Sera. He would not leave this place until it was accomplished.

"It looks like it. Hopefully it won't take very long to find someone willing to help me with what I need."

Nanael, still sitting reverse on Snow's saddle behind Church, craned her neck to look at the destination now in sight. "I wouldn't mind if you took a little while. It would give me more time to check out the resident male population, if you know what I mean."

Church restrained himself from sighing or rolling his eyes, and instead spurred Snow forward. Nanael needed his attention, but for now, it was going to have to wait. Still, he promised himself he would get her alone at some point in Bosk. He knew he could make a difference for her, even if it was a small one, and that was enough reason for him to do anything and everything he could. He couldn't stand idly by while someone suffered the way Nanael was: not now, not ever.

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><p><strong>OK, and we're done. Huge dialogue and character development chapter, and I hope this gives you guys a good idea of the things I have planned for Nanael. As you can probably tell, she's a bit different than she was in the anime, but the whole story I have woven for her depends on something completely OOC, that being the absence of that super narcissistic arrogance of hers. Sure, it's still there, but does she really believe her own words?<strong>

**On another note, I'm going to rewrite some of the dialogue in the older chapters, because compared to what I can do now, those lines were awful. If you're interested, I have already redone chapter 2, and will probably upgrade the other chapters soon enough. It might not seem important, changing a handful of dialogue and description lines, but who knows; you may find a significant difference that improves your overall reading experience. **

**Anyway, a new event will begin next chapter, and it involves Church finally acquiring a unique weapon, so look forward to it. Finally, don't forget to check out Manifest Destiny if you're interested.**


	36. Fair Trade

**I'm actually quite eager to return to this story. I always felt like certain characters in Queen's Blade deserved more love, among them Nyx and Nanael. I mean, it always seemed like Nanael could be hiding depression and sadness behind that rambunctious smile of hers, and if Queen's Blade was less fanservice and more plot/character development, I bet that would have made Nanael a more in-depth and lovable character.**

**Anyway, we finally get to meet Ymir and Cattleya, so at this point, Church has almost encountered the entire cast. I believe the only girls he has yet to meet (not including the two he'll be meeting this chapter) are Aldra, Melpha, and technically Menace, who he met for such a short time in the beginning that it probably shouldn't even count.**

**Story completion estimation: 47% Maybe. If I want to be generous about it.  
><strong>

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><p>Church's arrival at the mountain village of Bosk was not met with the fanfare he felt it deserved. After all, his goal for the past week or so had been to reach this place, so finally getting here felt like an accomplishment in itself. Still, the quaint little village offered no welcome beyond a pleasant view of the mountains that surrounded it, and a lonely windmill that doubled as a grinder for wheat. All of the other buildings in the village were made out of the sturdy spruce trees that populated the mountains, and many of them had red painted doors or rooftops.<p>

There was only a handful of people out and about at the moment, much to Nanael's displeasure. "Where the hell is everybody? How am I supposed to check out the guys if none of them are around, huh?!"

Both Church and Hachiel gave a similar exhausted look to the girl, a little worried about her priorities, which seemed to always put such things first. Hachiel, as always, was a bit more eager to point this out. "Nanael, do you not know how distasteful it is for an angel to say such things? Human men should not even be within your mental scope."

Nanael scowled up at her friend. "Hey, it's not my fault that there are way less guy angels than girl angels in heaven, alright? Besides, I'd have a better chance down here..."

The blue-haired girl trailed off, but her words revealed more to Church than she realized. This girl sitting on the back of his horse obviously had self-esteem issues, and she clearly thought that she wasn't good enough for any of the aforementioned male angels in heaven. That was probably why Nanael was so interested in human men: as an angel, she felt that they would view her with more awe and admiration than she could get in heaven, because even a flawed angel would be seen as better than humanity by most. Something about the whole notion was quite saddening. Did Nanael really think she wasn't good enough for anyone?

This would be something Church had to address when he spoke to Nanael later, but for now, he still needed to find someone to fulfill Rachel's request for a sturdy wagon spoke, as well as the assortment of other miscellaneous items on the list Rachel had given Church before he left.

"Nanael, would you mind seeing if you can spot a blacksmith from up high? I would really appreciate it."

Nanael grumbled something about work, but did seem mildly happy that Church had asked her instead of Hachiel. That had been the point of course. Nanael had slight trouble taking off from Snow's back, and Church could tell that her defective wing was the cause. It couldn't provide the amount of lift that her left could, and so she was pushed to the right when she flapped her wings, and had to compensate for it constantly. Even if she tried her hardest, Nanael would never be able to rectify her awkward takeoffs.

Still, she made it into the air easily enough, and Nanael was able to get high enough to see all of Bosk without a problem. She scanned the village below, looking for any telltale signs of a smith of sorts, and eventually came back down when she spotted one. Her landing was not as troubled as her takeoff, but Nanael still stumbled a little as the disproportionate lift of her wings made it difficult to land levelly.

Church pretended not to notice any of this, as he doubted that Nanael wanted to be reminded of her flight impediment anymore than she already was. He simply smiled and waited for her answer, making a conscious effort to look only at her eyes, and not her wings.

Nanael pointed her gloved finger roughly northeast. "I saw one over that way. It was some sort of weapon shop as well, and a bunch of their stuff was on display. Should be easy to find."

Church nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Nanael. Now, I don't know how long this business is going to take, so if you two want to do something else for awhile..."

The two girls exchanged looks for a moment before Hachiel replied to him. "We'll let you handle your business, Church. In the meantime, we'll manage to entertain ourselves, _appropriately, _in Nanael's case."

The blue-haired angel huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest, but said nothing to counter her friend. Church hoped this meant she was agreeing to not cause trouble within Bosk, but figured he could trust Hachiel to keep things in line regardless. "Well alright then, I'll come find you two when I'm done. It shouldn't be too hard to find girls as pretty and unique as the two of you, after all."

Hachiel laced her fingers together and giggled, obviously happy to receive Church's praise. Nanael on the other hand, simply directed her gaze to the sky, though she blushed nonetheless. With that, Church left the angels to their own devices, though he realized his words to them were actually kind of ironic. Nearly _every _woman he had met so far was pretty and unique. So running into a pretty and unique woman who wasn't Nanael or Hachiel was actually not that unlikely...

It didn't take long for Church to spot the building Nanael had mentioned to him, and it was indeed as obvious as she had said. The front of the store was open, allowing him to see a bountiful supply of weapons within, whether they were propped against a wall or stored on a rack. In front of this place were two individuals, the insane contrast between them enough to draw attention in itself.

On the left was a woman of such massive proportions that Church's first thought, much to his own horror, was that of a cow. It was incredibly rude of him, but the woman's breasts were nearly twice as large as her head, and it looked like they may have made up almost half of her body weight. Were it not for that, the tall, dark-haired woman would have been very attractive, though her glasses and ponytail gave off a motherly aura that would spell trouble for someone looking only to 'hit it and quit it.'

On the right, and on the other end of the spectrum entirely, was a girl barely over Church's waist in height. She had curly locks of carefully maintained golden hair and fierce blue eyes, both of which coupled nicely with her pink outfit, which sported plenty of white frills and a rather cute short skirt. She was a pretty cute kid, and must have barely been over ten, if that...

These two strangers appeared to be locked in a debate of sorts, though Church couldn't imagine what a grown woman and young child could be arguing over so vehemently. He supposed that it could have been the spat of a mother and child, but the difference in appearances was enough to tell that the two of them were probably not related.

It didn't seem like their heated discussion would subside anytime soon, so Church turned back the way he came, deciding that he would come back later, hopefully when things had calmed down. He didn't make it very far however, when a commanding voice called out to him from behind. "Hey! You in the red, get over here! We need you to answer something!"

Church looked over his shoulder, surprised to see that not only was the little girl the one who had addressed him, but was also pointing a massive gauntlet in his direction. "Yes, you! Come on, hurry up!"

With no reason to decline, Church turned Snow around once more and proceeded towards the child who didn't really have a child's voice, and the woman with tits bigger than... well, bigger than the assets of anyone else Church had ever seen, for sure.

"Can I help the two of you?"

The motherly looking woman bowed apologetically to him. "I'm very sorry about this, but Ymir is just too stubborn to let this discussion rest..."

Church eyed the short girl standing to his right. _Ymir, huh? That's actually a really pretty name. Er, for a little girl, of course._

Said little girl jabbed a finger at him. "I can already tell what you're thinking! I'm not a kid, so treat me with respect!"

Church's face contorted in confusion. "B-but you're like, three feet tall..."

"I'm a dwarf, you idiot! I'm probably three times older than you!"

For some reason, Church was a little more surprised than he should have been. Having met both elves and angels, one would think that dwarves would not be outside the scope of this world's races either. But for some reason, the idea of a dwarf was more unusual to Church than that of an elf, or even an angel.

Church pointed a finger over to the insanely disproportionate woman to his left. "S-so are you saying that you're actually older than her? E-even though she's...?"

The mentioned woman managed to answer before the dwarf woman could. "In years, she is. In maturity, probably not..."

Ymir glared at the older woman. "Hey, just because you're afraid of losing this doesn't mean you should stoop to petty insults, Cattleya!" She stuck her tongue out upon saying this, which unfortunately contradicted her efforts to be the more mature of the two conversationalists.

Church cocked an eyebrow at the two females. "Losing what, exactly? What are you two fighting over?"

The human woman, Cattleya, gave him a gentle smile that further cemented the motherly feel about her. "Well, I wouldn't call it fighting really... it's just a disagreement."

Ymir on the other hand, appeared to agree with the label of fighting. "Well, Cattleya here thinks her cheap, easily produced weapons are better than mine! That's ridiculous, because unlike her, I spend meticulous time and care on every single weapon I make, and the resources I use for them are of the highest quality! She just refuses to admit who the better craftsman is."

The affronted blacksmith gave Ymir a look, but it seemed more disappointed than anything else. Not surprisingly, it looked like a mother disappointed with her child.

Church on the other hand, wasn't quite sure why he had been dragged into all of this. Ymir had said that he was supposed to answer something, but he didn't think he was qualified to be an arbiter in this situation. "I'm sorry, but what exactly do you want me to do? I'm no weapon connoisseur by any means..."

Ymir flashed him a cheeky smile. "That's actually perfect, so don't worry! Most people who buy weapons aren't all that knowledgeable about them, generally speaking. So you're a pretty accurate representation of the customer base. Of course, _I _usually get more experienced and dedicated customers myself. I guess they just want higher quality in the weapons they're going to protect themselves with."

The other woman, Cattleya, merely sighed. More than being irritated or upset, she just seemed tired with the whole ordeal. Church got the feeling that Ymir wouldn't let this situation rest until it was resolved, and Cattleya probably knew it too. So Church just figured he might as well go along with things.

"Alright then, what do you want me to do?"

Ymir made an airy motion at the store behind her. "It's simple. You can check out some of her _weapons, _and then you can compare them against mine. Easy enough, right?"

Church shrugged. As he had said, he knew nothing about medieval weapon quality. But hey, if they wanted his opinion, who was he to refuse? "Alright. Am I just comparing two?"

Cattleya nodded. "For the sake of time and getting this fiasco over with, we'll just let you compare two swords." She then turned to Ymir. "Now, no matter what this young man chooses, we have to accept his verdict, alright?"

Ymir nodded as well, all confidence and smiles. "That's fine with me. No worries or complaints here."

The two women (Though it sounded strange to say that considering Ymir's appearance) gave each other a look before they went in separate directions. Cattleya retreated into her shop, while Ymir moved off to a cart at the side of the shop Church hadn't noticed before. It had a tarp over it, but it was pretty obvious that there were many pointy objects hidden under the cloth.

Church shifted his gaze back and forth between the two females, watching as they both gathered whichever blade they wanted Church to inspect to settle this argument. It didn't take them too terribly long: chances were that they didn't need to pick the best weapons they owned, since Church wouldn't have known the difference anyway.

Eventually, both Ymir and Cattleya returned with what seemed to be one-handed short swords for inspection. Cattleya's seemed to be made of steel or some other common iron, while Ymir's sword was colored red and gold, making it seem much more fancy and alluring. Of course, that could mean that the material used was less than ideal for weaponry... the blade itself could just be pretty, and not all that useful. Looks weren't the right thing to judge by.

Cattleya handed her blade to Church first. He grabbed it by the handle carefully, then stepped back and gave it a few amateurish swings. There was nothing he could really tell about the thing. It felt like a normal sword, unremarkable yet efficient in its use. There wasn't much he could say other than the fact that it was a solid weapon.

He handed it back to Cattleya, and then accepted Ymir's proffered blade. The moment he held the weapon in his hand, Church realized that this sword was quite a bit different from the previous one. It felt more... intimate, in a way. Like it was more of an extension of his own arm, rather than a tool in his hand. Maybe this was because it was quite a bit lighter, or because the hilt felt more comfortable in his hand. Swinging the thing also yielded less wind resistance, or at least it felt like it to Church.

It was obvious that this sword was of better make than the one Cattleya had given him, but from the look on that woman's face, Church felt that it might have been purposeful. While Ymir had agreed to accept whatever verdict Church gave, it was pretty likely that the diminutive blond would have taken it poorly regardless had she lost. Based on the rather pleased look Cattleya was giving him, Church wouldn't be surprised if she had handed him a rather bland and normal sword just to make sure Ymir would win, and avoid any unnecessary fallout. How cunning, for such a gentle looking woman.

Church held Ymir's sword out in front of him. "I prefer this one."

As expected, Ymir burst into joyous laughter. "See? I told you it would be obvious who was better! This guy knows what's happening, that's for sure!"

Church handed the red and gold sword back to its creator, noting that Cattleya's smile hadn't dropped at all. Yep, she had definitely let Ymir win without a fight: Someone was clearly more mature in this situation. As Ymir moved to return her weapon to the cart she had gotten it from, Church decided to verify this, leaning closer to Cattleya so his voice wouldn't be overheard.

"You didn't put up much of a fight, did you ma'am?"

She lowered her voice to a whisper as well, though it was still noticeably satisfied. "Some things just aren't worth fighting over sir. I'd rather let her have her moment."

Church nodded, deciding that he could raise his voice back to normal the moment he turned the conversation to other matters. "So, is one of you the town blacksmith?"

Cattleya gave a nod of confirmation. "That's right. I'm Bosk's blacksmith: Ymir is from the Iron Mountain. She drops by every once in awhile."

Church couldn't hold back a smile at the thought of it. "I imagine that's quite troublesome for you."

"Oh, it's not so bad. Ymir is stubborn and loud, but she's not a bad person by any means. Just a fierce competitor is all."

By this time, Ymir had made it back to the two of them. "Stubborn and loud huh? Well, at least I've got spirit. You didn't even give this guy a sword worth judging, did you?"

Though Church was, Cattleya did not seem surprised that Ymir had figured it out already. Then again, if she had an eye for weaponry, being a blacksmith and all, perhaps Church should have expected the dwarven woman to figure it out. Either way, neither of them said anything to confirm Ymir's suspicions, but that in itself was enough.

"Yep, as I thought... geez, where's the fun in a competition if you aren't going to give your best Cattleya? You could have at least tried."

Cattleya allowed herself a cheery smile, though her playful words were a bit too scathing to synchronize with it. "Well, I did want to give you a fair chance Ymir..."

Ymir narrowed her blue eyes at the older woman, but didn't fall for her lighthearted jab. Instead, she turned to face Church. "Sorry about dragging you into all of this. Is there anything we can actually help you with?"

"Well actually yes. I came here looking for a blacksmith to fill an order for a friend of mine. It's not actually for weapons though..."

Ymir shrugged. "In that case you'll probably want to let Cattleya handle it. I only make weapons."

Taking that as her cue, Cattleya took up her role. "And what exactly do you need for your friend, Mr...?"

"Church. And I actually need something delivered, rather than made. Do you remember an order for some wagon spokes a while ago?"

* * *

><p>Contrary to all of her grandstanding, Nanael was not in fact touring Bosk in search of men. She had actually left Hachiel to her own devices, and opted to settle on a tree branch on the outskirts of the settlement itself. With her armored legs dangling off of either side, the estranged angel was lost in thought, not feeling as depressed as she usually did.<p>

It probably had something to do with Church's attitude towards her. He'd been awfully considerate so far, even though he had tried to be subtle about it. There was no point in that though, as Nanael could always tell when someone was treading lightly around her. She noticed how they averted their stares, making doubly sure to not look at her deformed wing. But it felt different somehow, when Church was the one doing it. Instead of taking extra care to avoid looking at her wing, it felt like Church was taking extra effort to focus on her face, or on her eyes. On her as a person_, _instead of on one part of her body.

It was a nice feeling that the red clad man seemed to be an expert at providing. When Nanael talked with him, she felt like Church saw her as less of a defective failure and more of an individual who just had unique attributes. He treated her normally, which was more than Nanael could say about most of the people she had ever interacted with.

Still, Nanael wasn't foolish enough to believe that Church didn't judge her at all for her physical faults. She knew his type: a good person who truly wanted to be kind and considerate, but still couldn't help criticizing someone internally. Church was considerate and friendly with her, but Nanael knew that he thought about her handicap every time he looked at her. Every time he saw her next to Hachiel's flawless form, he would think about how unfortunate her condition was. He would feel pity for her, and Nanael hated that. To feel pity for someone else, you had to believe that they were worse off than you were, and therefore not on equal ground. Church acted like she was just another person, but on the inside, he thought she was broken. Everyone thought she was broken.

Even Hachiel, who had been her best friend for countless years, pitied Nanael and her condition, like she would a homeless puppy or a lost kitten. In fact, if she were honest with herself, Nanael actually hated Hachiel as much as she loved her. It wasn't really the pinkette's fault: it was just that, by being with Nanael all the time, Hachiel reminded both her and anyone who met them that Nanael was not as perfect as she was. When people saw Nanael and Hachiel side by side, they would always admire how heavenly and pure Hachiel looked, only to then look at Nanael and wonder what had gone wrong. It infuriated her that she could not even be with her best friend, who did care about her, without being bitterly reminded of her own shortcomings.

Everyone saw it. Everyone looked at her and judged her, thought she was of less worth than themselves or anyone else. And Nanael couldn't even be mad at them for their judgment, because she believed the same things they did. She knew she was useless. There was nothing she could do that someone else couldn't do many times better, and without as many mistakes. She was undoubtedly the worst flier in the heavens, and she botched more assignments than even the youngest angels did. She knew that she irritated almost everyone with the childish facade she used to hide her sadness, and that people were often glad to be rid of her when she finally left them. She also knew the Head Angel was constantly on the verge of sending her to the Underworld, just because she was utterly worthless to her. And finally, Nanael knew that no one _really _cared about her, and the ones that did care even a little bit, only did so because they felt sorry for her.

That was her whole life: a pity case. A nuisance. A failure. She had no worth, no purpose for even existing, other than to be a target of ridicule or pity to everyone. Bitter thoughts like these had often led to even more depressing thoughts for the angel, but fortunately she never acted on them. After all, suicide was seen as a heinous sin for humans to commit: who knew what would happen if an angel were to do such a thing? That alone kept Nanael rooted to this world. She was far too scared of hell to do anything as rash as take herself out. After all, hell was eternal suffering without end, but as long as she was alive in this world, there was a slim chance that something could get better one day, even if Nanael herself didn't really believe that would ever happen.

Nanael reached her arm around to massage the base of her smaller wing. It often grew sore because it had to work twice as hard to keep her aloft when she flew. Her wing beats were always uneven, since the right had to move twice as fast and with twice the amount of effort. Nanael would always tire quickly because of this, so besides being slow and clumsy in flight, she also couldn't stay airborne as long as anyone else. Just one more thing to add to her already long list of shortcomings and failures.

Once again drowning in bitterness, Nanael leaned her head back against the tree trunk she was resting against, in a desperate attempt to fall asleep. Her dreams were often the only times she could escape from the reality she lived in.

* * *

><p>Though finding a merchant willing to take Rachel's order to her would supposedly take a few hours, leaving Church with plenty of time to spend around Bosk, he found himself at the smithy all the same, talking with Ymir about this, that, and the other. She was certainly a rowdy one, being so outspoken and loud, but it wasn't really a bad thing. It was actually a refreshing change of pace, to speak to someone who was confident with themselves and more than willing to show it. Of course, one could say that Nanael was like that, but Church knew that her exuded confidence and boasting was nothing but a lie to hide her deep-seated sadness. Ymir on the other hand, really was proud of herself, all the way down to the core.<p>

Still, the thought of it reminded Church that he still needed to talk to Nanael about herself. He didn't know what she was doing right now, but he doubted it really involved harassing unsuspecting males. She was probably alone somewhere, berating herself for being useless and worthless. Thinking about her doing that to herself didn't really sit right with Church, but he had to finish his business with Ymir first, out of courtesy if nothing else.

"So, is there a special material that you use for your weapons? The color of the sword you showed me earlier was pretty unique."

Ymir took on the air of a matter-of-fact salesman. In fact, Church felt like she was always trying to sell something, regardless of who she was talking to, but maybe that was just the natural tone of her voice. "Actually yeah, there's a very special ore combination we dwarves use for our weapons. You can only find the ores you need in the Iron Mountain and the surrounding range. It's a secret though, so of course I can't tell you what kind of materials we use."

Church nodded, fascinated with the talk of weapons, likely because he had decided to get one for himself. His encounter with that assassin when he was with Tomoe and Shizuka was still fresh in his mind. "So Ymir, how much do these weapons of yours cost? I think you mentioned that they were more expensive than regular weapons..."

The mention of buying a weapon put a spark into Ymir's eyes. Suddenly she seemed even friendlier and talkative than before. "Oh, are you interested in buying one for yourself? I guess a traveler like you would need adequate means for protecting yourself... but why settle for adequate when you could have the best?"

Church smiled at her enthusiasm, but had no choice but to douse it. "Well, I am interested in getting a weapon for myself, but I don't actually have any money. So I can't even afford an average weapon, never mind an excellent one."

Ymir cocked an eyebrow at him, a disbelieving look on her face. "What kind of merchant has no money at all?"

Church shrugged, deciding that there was no reason to hide the truth from Ymir, who so far seemed to be nothing but good intentions and good conversation. "Well I'm not actually a merchant. I'm really just a traveler who's doing a favor for someone. She supplied me with the horse, as well as the supplies I needed to get here in one piece."

Ymir nodded in understanding, a little disappointed that Church had no money. "Well, if you really need a weapon, we could always find a different way for you to pay for it. There's a favor or two I could ask of you in exchange for one."

That sounded like a pretty good deal to Church, as long as the favor he was asked to perform proved reasonable. "What kind of favor are we talking about here? I don't know how long I'll stay in Bosk..."

"Well you see, there's an old dwarven mine not that far from here that was abandoned when this human settlement cropped up. I don't know how thoroughly my kinsmen cleaned up before leaving, and it's possible that the mine itself could have been stripped by the humans in the last century, but..."

That statement reminded Church that Ymir was supposedly older than him, though it was still difficult to imagine, "Speaking of which, if you don't mind me asking..."

Ymir met his eyes with a knowing look. "You're about to ask me how old I am, aren't you? Don't you have any manners at all? To ask a woman such a thing..."

A nervous laugh was all Church had to offer to defend himself. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never actually met a dwarf before... so I was just a little curious about how long you can all live."

"Well, we don't live as long as elves, by no means. Those geezers can live thousands of years, way longer than us. Most dwarves live around seven hundred years max, though that's only if you've lived a really healthy life. Still, the oldest dwarf in historical records lived to be 1,147, so I guess there's always exceptions. And since I know that you're going to ask, I'm 72. Pretty young by dwarf standards, so don't be getting any rude ideas about me being an old lady: I'm still young and beautiful."

Church nodded, glad that Ymir didn't seem too offended about him asking her age. Still, he was a little stunned to hear that she was over seventy... a human that age would already be wrinkles and weak bones. Ymir on the other hand, was still pretty good-looking. Church had originally thought that she appeared childish, but her life experience and speech patterns had helped offset that feeling of childlike cuteness. She was beautiful, in her own unique way, even if she was kinda short...

"Well I'm not disagreeing. Believe me, I could never think of you as an old lady, not with the good looks you have going for you."

Ymir blushed, unused to receiving such praise, especially from a human. Most other races didn't find dwarves attractive simply because of their height, so being told that she was good-looking by Church, who wasn't all that bad looking himself, was pleasantly unexpected. "W-well, thank you... I guess you aren't half-bad either, for a human... b-but that's entirely beside the point! We're talking about favors here!"

Church found himself mildly pleased that Ymir was so easily flustered. Something about being able to make a girl blush with such ease made him more than a little happy with himself. "Right, right... so what do you want me to do at this mine? Didn't you say that it had been abandoned?"

"Well yeah, but that's exactly what I need someone to do for me. There could be some ore left over there somewhere, and if there is, I figured I might as well take it back with me to the Iron Mountain. It'd be best to get it now while I'm here."

Church nodded to himself. "So do I just go see if there is some ore left and then come back and tell you, or do you want me to actually bring it out?"

Ymir shook her head. "I couldn't possibly expect you to bring it out for me. Not only is that a ton of work, but you don't have the proper tools or experience to be mining. Just tell me if you find anything, and I'll be happy to exchange a decent weapon for your effort. And of course, decent by my standards is an excellent weapon, so that's a pretty good deal."

Church mentally agreed with her. Truthfully, an easy reconnaissance mission in exchange for a quality weapon was a sweet deal. "Alright, I'm willing to do this for you. More than happy to help."

Church almost got up to leave, eager to ask Nanael if she would like to accompany him, but Ymir caught him by the arm first. "One more thing: there's no guarantee that the mine hasn't been... 'occupied' since it's abandonment. Can you handle yourself if anything dangerous crops up?"

Church wasn't actually sure he could, especially if Ymir was talking about bandits or something. But then again, if Nanael did come with him, she could easily handle anything. So he'd just tell Ymir that he could handle it. "Don't worry, I can handle whatever has taken up residence in there, no problem."

Ymir cocked an eyebrow at him. "Even though you don't have a weapon to fight with, huh?"

Church's false confidence fell rather quickly at that. "Well, uh... I-I guess you have a point there..."

The diminutive blonde sighed. "Just as I thought, you really are hopeless. Look, come with me to the wagon real quick. I'm gonna loan you something to defend yourself with. But you don't get to keep this one, you hear?"

Church stood and followed Ymir to the wagon she had brought to town. "Thank you Ymir. I didn't know what I was thinking..."

Ymir pulled the tarp off of her wagon a peered inside. "You sure didn't. Thinking you could take someone on without a weapon, geez... alright, look at what I've got with me and pick something you know how to use. And don't scratch it or anything!"

Church decided against mentioning that a quality weapon would not be so easily scratched, instead choosing to peer over the lip of the wagon and examine whatever weapons Ymir had with her. There was a diverse assortment of weapons, though the majority of them were bladed types. Maybe dwarves favored axes and swords? Of course, any good merchant carried more diverse goods than that, so Ymir also had a few other things around, including maces, short spears, and... a crossbow. A very nice looking crossbow, and more importantly, a very usable looking crossbow. Unlike all of these other weapons, this was something Church knew how to use.

He grabbed the thing eagerly, surprised to find that it was actually metal through and through. Even the bowstring was some sort of tensile metal. Apparently, dwarves only worked with one material. "Do you mind if I use this Ymir?"

The golden-haired dwarf found his choice most unexpected. "Well no, but why a crossbow? Wouldn't you rather have something you can actually block with?"

Church hefted the heavy weapon in his hands, tracing its curves and lines with the eye of a marksman. His proficiency with such a weapon was not equal to his proficiency with firearms, but Church had fired a crossbow before, and he knew that his aim would be good enough. "Don't worry: with this, I can stop almost anything before it even reaches me."

Ymir dug around in her wagon and procured a quiver with crossbow bolts in it. There appeared to be about two dozen of them or so. "Oh really? You're sounding awfully confident about that, aren't you?"

Church nodded, for once completely confident in his ability to defend himself in this world. "You bet I am. And besides, I would think someone like you would appreciate a little self-confidence."

Ymir allowed herself a smile. "I guess so. Then if you really think you can handle it, I'll show you where the mine is. Do you have a map?"

Church pulled out the map he had swiped while on the way to Bosk and handed it to his dwarven acquaintance. She stood beside him and pointed out Bosk, and then drew an invisible circle with her finger around the mine, which was roughly a mile and half from the village. With the location clarified, Church let Ymir know that he would be back as soon as he was finished, and then went off to find Nanael. If he could convince the angel to come with him, then he could feasibly kill two birds with one stone.

* * *

><p>Nanael didn't actually dream at all as she slept. She knew this because the sound of approaching footsteps on grass had awakened her, and she had no recollection of any dreams whatsoever. She had simply been asleep, blissfully unaware of the pain she felt every waking hour of every day. Cracking an eye open, Nanael looked down from her perch to see Church looking up at her, trying to discern if she was still asleep, or if he should wake her at all if she was.<p>

Honestly, Nanael wasn't happy to see him. She wasn't unhappy either though, she simply accepted the fact that he was there, and had been looking for her for whatever reason. Still, she had to keep up appearances, so the inwardly distraught angel plastered on her signature smile as she spoke to him, her voice as cheery and upbeat as everyone was used to. "Hey Church, what's up? You done with the blacksmith already?"

Church smiled back at her, but something about his looked almost as fake as Nanael's really was. "Well technically no. I actually came looking for you for something else."

Nanael cast a wary glare at him. There were very few times when someone sought her out for anything good. "Well it's a good thing you found me so easily then. How did you know I was here anyway?"

Church shrugged, his smile becoming noticeably more genuine as he answered. "Well like I said earlier, it's not too hard to find a girl as pretty and unique as you are, so it was really a cinch. You stand out no matter where you are."

Nanael managed to keep her face from contorting into a scowl. She knew that Church had not meant it that way, but his mention of standing out only reminded her that she was seen as inferior by others. Well, it was the thought that counted, right? "Alright then, what did you need? Did you forget where the smithy was already?"

Church shook his head. "Actually, one of the blacksmiths there asked me for a favor. I was just wondering if you wanted to come along."

Nanael cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why? You don't really need me for anything, right?"

"Well no, but I'd still enjoy your company. I'd like to spend some time with you, if you want."

Nanael found herself speechless for a moment, if only because Church's explanation was so unexpected. She would have understood if he needed her for her strength or something, but for him to only want her for company? Wouldn't Hachiel be better for that than her? "Well I... I suppose I don't really have anything better to do... but wouldn't you rather ask Hachiel to come? Or did you ask her already, and she said no so you came to me?"

Church crossed his arms in mock indignation. "Hey, what do you take me for? You're not my last resort: I came to you first, because I really want you to come with me."

Nanael didn't know what to think about this development at all. She thought she had figured Church out already, but here was pulling something unexpected on her. She knew he pitied her, but she didn't expect his concern to encompass something like asking her to spend time with him just because he wanted to. It was a pleasant surprise.

Nanael hopped down from her perch to land next to Church. She didn't know why, but she found herself smiling in what wasn't as fake a fashion as usual. "O-Ok then, in that case I guess I can tag along, just to make you feel better. Where are we going?"

"Well one of the blacksmiths asked me to go check out an abandoned mine that's not too far from here. And I just figured that it would be the perfect opportunity for the two of us to spend some time together... or uh, y'know, just hang out."

Nanael mentally decided that she liked the 'spending time together' phrase more. It just sounded more intimate...

"Geez, you're such a lonely individual Church. Do you always need a girl at your side?"

He winked at her. "Only pretty ones."

Nanael couldn't fight back a blush. Even if Church was only making an effort to be nice, he was really good at faking it...

"Well if you were looking for pretty, you picked the wrong angel..."

Church motioned for Nanael to follow him as he turned to walk away. "Maybe you're right Nanael: in that case, I chose the most beautiful angel to accompany me. I mean, no offense to Hachiel of course, but you're just too much for her."

Every word this man uttered just confused Nanael even further. Was he being serious right now, or was he mocking her? Did he really think that between her and Hachiel, she was more beautiful? Even though Hachiel was completely flawless? "Oh, well uh... of course... of course I'm the better choice! Y-you're not as dense as you look..."

Church smiled back at her. "Of course not. I know a quality woman when I see one."

Nanael's smile widened another notch. This man... he was something else alright. She could almost feel like a different person around him. A person that didn't hate herself more than anything. She was too far gone to bury her bitter feelings completely of course, but the distraught angel found that it was just a little easier to forget about her troubles when Church was around. And as they headed for the mine in search of whatever, that was enough to make Nanael smile genuinely, for the first time in a long while.

* * *

><p><strong>So this chapter ended up being really long compared to normal, and it surprised me that it was literally all dialogue. I was actually thinking of doing all of Bosk in one chapter, but then it would have been ridiculously long, so I decided not to. Anyway, I'm sure one of you was happy to see Church acquire a crossbow, and hopefully everyone else enjoyed this chapter for other reasons. Until next time.<strong>


	37. Faith and Jealousy

**It's been far too long since the last update. As fluffy and cute as the last chapter was, it can't stem the want for a new chapter forever, right? Nanael is still sad and lonely, which is unacceptable! **

**By the way, as Nyx gets more development, I'd like to point out that her story will likely be the darkest out of all of the girls. Let's be honest here, she gets violated by a tentacle monster on a regular basis, and I'm not just going to cut that out of her character as if it never existed. If anything, it'll be a great catalyst for some Church x Nyx stuff later. Now I'll never be super explicit about the kind of thing Funikura does with her, but don't expect me to dodge around it either, alright?**

* * *

><p>"So, this is it, huh?"<p>

Church and Nanael stood together, peeking into the open mouth of a cave that led into the mine Ymir wanted investigated. Nanael was looking in with a grimace, which didn't go unnoticed by Church.

"You don't look too happy about the idea of going in Nanael."

The angel subconsciously rubbed the base of her handicapped wing. "Well I'm not really fond of small places. The one good wing I do have gets kinda cramped, and I can't really fly around in a cave..."

Church nodded in understanding, hefting his borrowed crossbow in both arms. "I guess that makes sense. If you'll be uncomfortable down there Nanael, I won't force you to come. Do you want to stay here?"

The angel in question folded her arms and gave Church a strange look that he couldn't accurately interpret. "I thought you said you wanted me to come with you?"

"I do want you to come with me Nanael. But I also don't want to make you do anything that's going to be unpleasant for you. I wanted to do this together with you, but not at the cost of your comfort."

There was a slight upturn of Nanael's lips, barely perceptible even to someone like Church. "Well it's not like I'm claustrophobic or anything: I'll be fine, let's go! With how easily you get lonely, I can't really let you go in alone, now can I?"

Church offered a much larger, much more obvious smile in return. "No, no you can't. Let's get this started!"

Church continued to smile even as he entered the cave ahead of Nanael. Even the smallest genuine smile from Nanael felt like a huge achievement to him. He couldn't wait to know how it would feel to make her laugh.

As the two of them proceeded further into the cave and further away from the entrance, the light from outside faded, and it occurred to Church that he had neglected to bring a torch. He was about to apologize to Nanael and tell her that they'd have to leave to get a lamp or something, but before he could make any comment at all, Church noticed that there was a faint blue glow emanating from behind him. Church turned to face Nanael and see what this strange light was, and he was surprised to find that the source was Nanael herself. Her wings were glowing with a calming, warm blue light, lighting the cave around her a few feet and framing her own body in light and shadow.

Nanael must have caught him staring at her wings, and she immediately scowled. She hated it when people focused on her wings. "What?"

"Your wings... they're beautiful..."

With that unexpected reply, Nanael blushed, shrinking in on herself a little, as if she could hide her embarrassment that way. "R-really? Both of them?"

Church was still enthralled by the lovely glow of Nanael's wings, so his response was a little slow. "...yeah... of course. They're wonderful..."

This was the first time anyone had ever praised the beauty of Nanael's wings, and the angel was practically frozen in place as her mind tried to process the immense happiness she was feeling. "I...uhm...they're not r-really...s-so great..."

Shaken from his stupor, Church was about to tell Nanael that her wings were far more than great, when a loud crash of metal on stone echoed throughout the tunnels of the cave. The moment between Church and Nanael was quickly lost as they both looked down the tunnel in an effort to spot anything unusual, but beyond the ambient light of Nanael's wings, nothing was visible.

Nanael peered down the dark cavern, her bright green eyes unable to discern anything at all. "What do you think that was?"

Church would have normally been at the very least slightly concerned, but with a weapon he could actually use in his hands, he was held back no longer. For the first time in this world, the enemy was going to be scared of _him. _"I think that was fair warning that there's someone else here besides us. Bandits most likely."

"Hopefully not bandits like that ape Leina was travelling with..."

"Leina?"

Nanael shrugged. "She was some super idealistic and naive blonde chick who ditched her family for adventure or something."

"I get the feeling I've heard that description before..."

Nanael cocked an eyebrow at him, pretty sure that she had never seen Church even in passing during her brief foray on earth with Leina, but decided against saying anything more about it. It was better to focus on the task at hand. "So, do you want me to lead the way then?"

Church nodded. "Yeah, thanks. Without you here, I'd be in a pretty inconvenient bind right now..."

Such a comment was nowhere near as uplifting as the one about her wings, but Nanael was at least glad that she was being of some use, and was actually being acknowledged for that usefulness. Still, the fact that she was doing what any torch or lamp could do was not very gratifying. "Yep, follow the over-glorified lamp..."

Church frowned at her as she took the lead. "Hey, don't say things like that. I'm serious Nanael, I'm glad you're here. Don't underestimate yourself so much."

Nanael didn't look too convinced or affected by Church's words, but she was honestly glad he had said them, their negligible effect notwithstanding. "I was only joking Church. C'mon let's go."

Unable to tell exactly how Nanael had received his comment, Church decided that of all the girls he had ever met, Nanael was one of the most difficult to read. She was constantly laughing or smiling, but so many of them were fake, it was hard to tell when she was genuinely pleased or content. After all, it was not easy to tell if an expression of joy was truly heartfelt or not.

Church found joy in bringing happiness to others, but with Nanael it was not easy. She was a person with deep-seated bitterness and sorrow, bred through years of loneliness and rejection. When it came to building bridges or walls, Nanael had practically built an entire fortress around herself, in a futile effort to defend herself against the scorn and the hatred arrayed against her. She was no architect though. Her fortress had so many weaknesses, so many cracks, so many broken barricades through which the arrows of the enemy could slip through and wound the helpless soul within.

Church couldn't imagine how many nights Nanael had sat alone, crying uncontrollably as she felt the full brunt of her rejected existence. Did those tears ever run out? Was there some point where Nanael could no longer cry for herself, simply because she couldn't muster the will to do even that? The mere thought of it made Church seethe with anger. How could anyone reduce a person to such a state, where they felt as though their whole existence held no meaning, where seeing your own reflection only brought thoughts of hatred and disgust to your mind?

If he ever met the people who had crushed Nanael's spirit so utterly and so completely, Church would make sure they felt even a small, insignificant fraction of her suffering. Humans, angels, whatever: he'd make them pay for creating this hollow shell of an innocent girl, this hollow shell of a beautiful angel with glorious wings that walked in front of him.

In the meantime, Church would take it upon himself to repair the seemingly irreversible damage that had been done. He'd build a bridge that towered far over the walls Nanael had erected around herself. He would walk right into her shattered fortress, take the broken heart out of Nanael's hands, and do whatever it took to fix it. If an entire fragment of her heart was missing, he would simply cut out a piece of his own to fill the gap. He hadn't known Nanael for long, but Church was dead-set on giving her the happiness she deserved. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Consumed by his thoughts, Church didn't realize that Nanael had stopped until he got a face-full of feathers. Though he was reeling from the surprise, Church noted that not only were Nanael's wings immensely beautiful, but also incredibly soft and warm.

Nanael cocked an eyebrow at the man behind her as he stumbled backwards, having walked face first into her good wing. He recovered quickly enough, but his face was marked by embarrassment nevertheless, though Nanael couldn't help but feel that his blush was caused more by his thoughts than his mistake. Not wanting to escalate the awkwardness of the situation, Nanael ignored Church's blunder and instead pointed to the thing that had made her stop.

Bathed in the faint glow of Nanael's wings, the duo looked upon a side passage held up by wooden beams. There were lumps of broken stone all around it, and as far as the light allowed them to see, a rail was visible, though the rail cart that accompanied it was not. The echoes of labor could be faintly heard from somewhere within. Church glanced down the tunnel.

"This must be the mine Ymir was talking about."

"Did she mention that it was going to be occupied?"

Church hefted his crossbow and grinned at her. "Yes, she did. That's why I brought this."

Nanael jabbed a thumb back at her glowing wings. "Well I don't think we'll be able to sneak around. Do you want me to stay here?"

"No way. There'll be no need to sneak around if I have you there to help me. No one in there will be a match for you Nanael."

Nanael smiled, but her thoughts quickly turned sour. _So this is the real reason he asked me to come along. He just needed someone to beat the bad guys for him..._

"Yeah, of course... a bunch of thugs are no match for me..."

Something in her tone or expression immediately worried Nanael's male companion. "Nanael... why do I get the feeling that you're misunderstanding something?"

The angel shrugged, trying to keep any bitterness from her face. "It's nothing Church, you're just paranoid."

"Am I? Nanael, if I ever ask what's wrong, it's only because I'm worried about you. You don't have to hide anything."

At this point, Nanael decided she might as well get angry. "You only brought me here for muscle, right? You needed someone to fight all of the bad guys, didn't you? That's the only reason you even brought me with you!"

"Nanael, Ymir told me that there was a possibility of there being bandits, but there was no guarantee. I didn't know there would be anyone else here, so no, I didn't bring you just to fight for me. I don't think of you as a tool you know."

"You don't have to be sure about a threat to bring a countermeasure for it."

Church took a step forward, making sure that he was looking Nanael in the eyes. "Nanael, I swear I didn't bring you to use as a weapon or a tool to make my job easier. If you need proof of that, then please stay here. I'll go in and handle the bandits myself, and then we can head back to town together."

Nanael wanted to stay mad, but found that she couldn't manage it. Church was looking at her so earnestly, trying so hard to convey to her that she was not just a means to an end. Nanael was just so used to being deceived: countless people had told her that she meant something, or said that she wasn't useless, only to ridicule and mock her behind her back. Nanael was so used to the paradigm that it was difficult to imagine that anyone, especially someone like Church, could be honest when they said she meant something to them.

Her anger defeated, Nanael shook her head. "No, it's fine... I'll come with you. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions..."

Church smiled, happy to have resolved the conflict so soon. "Look Nanael, I know you've probably been hurt by a lot of people, and by now it's hard for you to trust or open up to anyone, but I promise I'm different. We're friends, and I will never do anything to hurt you, not like that. And if I ever mess up, I give you permission to punch me through a wall."

As Church himself had said, Nanael was having a hard time trusting his words. The last time she had put her faith in anyone besides Hachiel, she had been crushed. What was going to keep Church from doing the same thing? But still, there was no denying that so far, Church had treated Nanael like no one ever had before. If anyone deserved a chance, it was him...

"I'm going to hold you to that promise Church, and believe me, it's a tall order. I also want that permission of yours in writing, just in case you try to cheat me out of my right to slam you through a wall."

Fairly certain she was joking, Church was nevertheless glad that Nanael was actually going to give him a chance. Still, a chance to succeed was also a chance to fail. Church had to make absolutely sure that he never hurt Nanael the way she had been her entire life, not even by accident.

Before Church could make any response at all, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from down the mine, the sound gradually getting closer. He and Nanael both peered down the tunnel, Church stuffing his crossbow into the nook of his shoulder. "I think they know we're here..."

Nanael looked down at her feet. "Sorry...they probably heard me yelling..."

"Don't worry about it Nanael. This just makes our job easier. I mean, even if every single one of them came out to get us, there's no way they could handle someone as amazing as you. I probably won't even need to do anything."

Nanael decided to take Church's words as the compliments they were this time, instead of receiving them negatively. She was strong, and Church was depending on her. That in itself felt nice, since no one ever thought highly enough of Nanael to rely on her at all. Even Hachiel wasn't comfortable with depending on Nanael completely, though Nanael herself could not deny that she was not always trying very hard to help her pink-haired friend.

"Y-yeah... yeah, you're right. Any number of these thugs will be no problem for me. You can just stand back and watch Church."

Church took a bolt from his quiver and locked it into his weapon. "Well I could, but I really do want to test this thing out..."

The pair didn't exchange any more words as they waited for the approaching individual to come out of the darkness beyond Nanael's light. It was a short wait, as soon enough, the glow of a lamp emerged from the dark tunnel, attached to the arm of a young man with booted feet. He looked all around average, with stringy black hair and grey eyes. His rugged face was smudged with coal, and he had a pick axe resting on his shoulder.

The man eyed Nanael and Church in front of him, to his credit not looking too surprised to see a glowing angel before him. "Can I help you fine folks?"

Church lowered his crossbow, having not met the type of individual he was expecting. "Uh... well we were coming here to investigate the mine... what exactly are you doing here? You don't look like any kind of bandit I've ever seen."

"Bandit? Now where'd you go getting an idea like that? My name's Ross, from Fenril village on the other side of the mountain. Who're you?"

Church and Nanael exchanged a glance, and Church decided to speak for both of them. "I'm Church, I'm uh... a mercenary on a job for someone is Bosk. This is my partner Nanael."

"You're partner's an angel? She's mighty funny looking, what with her w-"

Church cut Ross off before he could go too far with his words. "Yes, Nanael is an angel. I think that'd be obvious: I mean, when have you ever met a human girl this beautiful?"

Any of Nanael's bubbling anger immediately dissipated as her expression melted into embarrassment. How many times had Church called her beautiful today?

If Ross noticed that he had almost made a terrible mistake, there was no sign of it. He smiled wide and bright, completely oblivious to his faux paus. "Well, I can't argue with you there, Sir. She is a mighty pretty young lady. Which brings me to the question: what are folks like you doing this deep in the mountain? You don't look like miners of any sort."

Nanael was slightly less miffed at Ross by this point, but still left the explanation to Church. "My client is a dwarven woman whose kinsmen used to run this place. She sent me here to see if there was anything of value left, though at this point I can assume you've beaten us to the punch."

"Well me and some of the other villagers from Fenril have been mining coal out of this place for months now, but there were a few crates of weird ore lying around when we got here. We haven't needed it for anything, so it's still there, if you want to check it out."

"Sounds good. Can you lead the way?"

"Of course, follow me."

Ross turned on his heel and retreated back down the tunnel he had come from, lighting the way with his lamp. Church and Nanael followed a few steps behind, both glad that things had gone so smoothly, but also a little disappointed that they had not had the chance to fight anyone. Church wanted to test his skill with the crossbow Ymir had lent him, and Nanael wanted to show off just a bit. Anything to get more praise out of the man beside her.

Because or Ross's proximity to them, the two companions remained quiet as they followed the miner, not willing to speak of anything remotely personal in his presence. It wasn't until the tunnel narrowed into an even smaller space than before that anything was said at all. With the walls and ceiling of the mine getting closer, Nanael was forced to fold her large left wing to keep it from buffeting the sides. Church also noticed that the close proximity of all this stone was causing Nanael to breathe a little quicker than usual.

"Nanael, are you alright?"

The blue-haired angel glanced nervously at the suffocating walls around her. "N-not really... I kinda lied earlier, I'm really not any good with tight spaces like this..."

Church didn't find the idea of Nanael being claustrophobic all that surprising. She was a person used to being able to fly and soar through the air, albeit awkwardly, and there was nothing but open space up there. Flying was just as important to an angel as walking was to a person, and just like a human would freak out if they were unable to walk, an angel would freak out if they were unable to fly.

At least somewhat understanding her feelings, Church grabbed onto Nanael's hand as they continued to walk. "Don't worry about it Nanael. Remember, even if there were a cave-in or something, your strength would allow you to escape easily. Besides, with how old Ymir is, this place has been fine for decades. There's no reason there would be any problems now. Close your eyes and think of something nice. Don't focus on anything else."

Taking some comfort in his words, Nanael followed Church's advice, and closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of his hand on hers, instead of the imposing walls all around her. Surprisingly, it was not as hard as she had thought it would be. It was easy to get lost in her own thoughts as she focused on the warmth of his hands, of the comfort just holding him seemed to provide. Nanael had never interacted with someone like this before...

Lost in thought, it wasn't long before Nanael found Church calling her name, letting her know that they had arrived at the mine itself, which was fortunately a rather large chamber, and not some tunnel crowded with carts and sweaty workers.

Opening her eyes and reluctantly releasing Church's hand, Nanael found that the chamber itself actually had a rather high ceiling, and many floors of catwalks for the miners to move around higher levels. If she wanted to, she could have flown around in here, even though her movement still would have been limited.

Ross pointed towards several boxed crates stacked in the corner. "That there was here before we even got started with our own little operation. We checked them to see what was inside, but it's just some strange ore we couldn't make use of of. Besides, we figured someone would come back for it eventually, and it just wasn't right to take their hard work, so we left it alone. You're free to take it if you want."

Church moved over to the crates, undoing one of the lids to peek inside. It was full of chunks of reddish brown ore. With enough imagination, he could see how this could be turned into the crimson weapons Ymir sold...

"So you're really OK with us taking this? You don't want anything in return for it?"

"No siree, it's all yours. That metal is too tough for us to work with anyway. The methods we use for regular iron won't work on it. We tried a bit when we first found it, but it was useless. It's only taking space, so you'd even be doing us a favor by taking it. You're going to need something to carry it in though, it's hella heavy."

Hearing this, Nanael walked over to the crates, kicking one of them with her foot. With a nod to herself, she bent down and lifted two of the things with ease. There were only four crates to begin with, so this was pretty great overall. "If we stack them, I can probably carry all four of these. I'll just need you to make sure I don't run into anything Church. I won't be able to see anything with these crates in my face."

"I can do that. But are you sure? We could probably find something to push them on..."

Nanael placed the two crates down so she could stack the two remaining ones on top of them, before lifting all four of them once again. "It's fine. Strength is my only good point, so I might as well make use of it."

Church frowned at her as he wondered if he would be strong enough to carry at least one of the boxes himself. At this point in their relationship, he didn't like hearing Nanael degrade herself anymore than he he did someone else. In fact, hearing Nanael talk about herself in such a way was far more painful than hearing a stranger do the same.

"I'd hardly call that your only good point Nanael. I don't know about you, but from a guy's point of view, beauty is definitely a good point. Don't sell yourself so short. By the way, let me see if I can carry one of those."

Hiding a smile behind the crates in her arms, Nanael allowed Church to take one of the crates, though he nearly fell straight to the floor with it. "Jesus, this thing is ridiculous! How much does this weigh!?"

Amused by his efforts, Nanael couldn't old back a cheerful laugh as she took the crate back from Church. "Too much for you, apparently."

"Oh be quiet, we can't all have amazing strength like you y'know, sheesh. I don't even want to know how much damage you could do if you punched me..."

"Well it's too late to rescind that permission to punch you from earlier..."

"Yeah, I know..."

Nanael peered around the edge of the crates so she could see the chamber's exit. She walked towards it, her movement hardly impeded at all by the immense weight in her arms. "Well the sooner we're out of here the better I'll feel, so let's get going Church. Lead the way."

Church gave a brief wave to Ross before following Nanael to the exit, moving in front of her so she could see some part of him to follow. "Whatever you do, don't trip Nanael. I'd hate to be crushed by those things."

"Well what kind of pack mule would I be if I did something like that? Don't worry about it."

"Please don't say things like that, Nanael."

The angel cocked an eyebrow at him, despite the fact that Church wouldn't be able to see it from where he was. "What? It was just a joke..."

"Well it wasn't a funny one. I really don't like hearing all of these 'jokes' at your own expense."

Carefully following Church down the tunnel as she avoided bumping her cargo into the walls or ceiling, Nanael tried to get a good look at his expression, though she couldn't really manage. "And why is that? Why do you care if I make fun of myself or not?"

"There's a huge difference between making fun of yourself and actually believing the things you're saying. I can tell that your self-deprecating jokes are more than just little jabs at your own expense. You actually believe what you're saying, and I can't stand that."

Nanael was a bit conflicted, not knowing how to respond to Church's words. On one hand she was glad that he was trying to deny her worthless nature, but on her more childish side, she felt like Church didn't have any right to tell her what she should and shouldn't believe.

"I don't see how what I believe about myself is any of your business, Church."

"Of course it's my business if what you believe about yourself is wrong! Nanael, you're my friend and I can't accept the kind of things you think about yourself. You aren't a tool that's only good for breaking stuff or carrying heavy things, you're an amazing person that I-"

Church was unable to finish his sentence, as a loud crack from the stone walls around him cut him off. "What the hell?"

Unfortunately the cracking was not just a sound, as the walls themselves began to crumble. Even the floor beneath the duo began to break apart. There was hardly any time to react at all as the entire floor fell out from beneath their feet, opening up into a great chasm below that was clearly not a natural formation. Nanael's first thought was to simply fly back up, but she quickly remembered that Church could not do the same.

Dropping the crates in her arms, Nanael instead caught Church before he fell too far out of her reach. She would have simply carried them both back to the top of the chasm, but the ceiling was collapsing as well, the rubble forcing Nanael downwards. There was nothing she could do except fall and cover the fragile human in her arms as the two of them descended to the bottom of the mountain in what was most certainly a trap.

* * *

><p>Funikura was greatly displeased. For the first time in a long time, he was not the sole target of Nyx's adoration, and that did not sit well with the twisted staff. Said brunette was standing in front of a mirror in the inn room she had rented, the top of her crimson dress pulled down to her waist so she could examine the slowly healing wounds Elina had left on her side a few weeks ago.<p>

Besides Funikura, she was alone in her room, so Nyx was not embarrassed to be showing off her generous breasts, even if it was only to herself. In fact, she was probably more focused on them than on the bandages around her abdomen.

_I wonder if Church prefers them large? Most men do, but maybe he's the kind that's into smaller breasts? I hope not, there's nothing I can do to make myself smaller..._

While Funikura would have usually been enticed by a half-nude Nyx, the knowledge that she was busy examining herself only to judge her attractiveness for the sake of a man infuriated the demon. Her body belonged to him, and no one else.

Fortunately Nyx was just a little too far away from Funikura for him to snatch up the woman with his tentacles and punish her for even thinking about pleasing someone else besides him. The grotesque staff was stuck on the bed as Nyx examined herself across the room. Under normal circumstances Nyx would have never been more than a few feet away from Funikura, but ever since she had met that man in Alabaster Town...

Deciding that there was nothing she could do to change the size of her breasts regardless of Church's liking of them, Nyx turned her attention to the bandage around her stomach. She gave it a few tender pokes, testing the pain the wound still emitted, and found that it was unfortunately sore even now. The slash she had received from Elina's clawed gauntlet had not healed quite yet, but still, at least it wouldn't scar. With Funikura's power supplementing her, Nyx's wounds never scarred. They didn't heal any faster than usual, but at least they left no trace when they were gone, for which she was grateful, especially now that she had a man on her mind.

_I'm glad that none of these injuries are going to leave permanent marks. Church doesn't seem like the kind of man who finds scars attractive..._

As if it was reading her mind, Funikura growled at its wielder, causing Nyx to turn and face the staff with a look of confusion. "What's wrong Master?"

Funikura sent a heated glare the woman's way, doing it's best to stare directly into Nyx's one exposed emerald eye.

"Oh, I've been neglecting you haven't I? I'm so sorry Master..."

Covering her curvacious body with her lovely crimson dress once more, Nyx moved towards Funikura and picked it up, cradling it close to her. Whether or not she had found a new target of admiration in Church, she still held the monstrous staff in high esteem.

Funikura briefly contemplated violating the woman now that she was close enough to do so, but decided against it after a few loving strokes from Nyx's slender fingers. After all, what would be the point of punishing her now, when she was doing what she was supposed to? To punish her now would be like kicking a puppy whose mistake was an hour past. She would not understand why he was mad at her, and that would defeat the purpose of the punishment, aside from the pleasure of using her body as he pleased.

No, he'd wait until Nyx was deluding herself with fantasies over that man again, and then he would ravage her so badly that she would never dare think of anyone but her master again.

* * *

><p>One of the many less-known abilities of angels was to sense when another angel was in trouble. It was because of this ability that Hachiel hovered above Bosk, trying to locate the smithy Church had gone to earlier that day. She had been entertaining the young children of the village when she sensed some sort of danger to her partner Nanael, and was now trying to figure out where she was so she could go and help her.<p>

Hachiel knew that her friend had gone along with Church somewhere earlier that day, but did not know where, so she had to ask someone who might, and the only people she could think of was the two blacksmiths Church had talked with earlier.

Finally spotting the building she was looking for, Hachiel descended to the ground, finding a short blonde girl with slightly pointed ears squabbling with an insanely busty woman over the proper method for smelting multiple ores together.

Not at all interested in that, for once Hachiel pushed her politeness aside and interrupted the two conversationalists. "Excuse me! Did either of you speak with a man in a red jacket today!?"

While Ymir would have been a little upset at being so rudely interrupted, she could tell that this new arrival was very concerned about something, and so forgave her for the interruption.

"Yeah, he was here earlier: asked Cattleya if she could set up a transportation job back to Vance territory. Any reason an angel like you wants to know?"

Hachiel disregarded the question asked of her, simply glad that she might be able to find her endangered friends. "He may be in trouble. Please, do you know where he is now? Did he tell you anything when he visited earlier today?"

The mention of trouble caused a modicum of concern to cross Ymir's face. It's not like she knew Church all that well, but he was a nice enough fellow, so she didn't want anything too terrible to befall him. "I asked him to do a favor for me that had a bit of risk involved. Why, what happened?"

"An angel companion of mine went with him, and I sensed that she was in mild danger. Even a small threat to an angel would be very dangerous for a human, so I need to know where you sent him!"

Ymir frowned, wondering if Church had run into some trouble at the mine. "I sent him to an abandoned dwarven mine not that far from here. Let me get my axe and I'll go there with you."

While not displeased with the idea, Hachiel couldn't help but wonder why aid was being offered at all. "There's really no need, if you can just tell me where this mine is..."

Ymir shouted back at her as she retreated further into the shop. "Nonsense! I'm the one who sent him away on that errand, so if he's in trouble because of it, I have to take responsibility! I'm the Iron Princess, I can't just cast the blame aside!"

It did not take long for Ymir to return to the front of the shop with an axe well over twice her size. "Well then, let's get going!"

Certain that there was no dissuading the dwarf from her course of action, Hachiel scooped the small woman up in her arms, heavy axe and all. There was no time to waste with walking.

Naturally, a dwarf like Ymir, who was far more used to being underground than in the air, didn't take this too terribly well. "W-w-what the hell are you doing?!"

"There is absolutely no time to waste! We have to get there as quickly as possible!"

While she agreed, Ymir was still displeased with the notion of flying. But it made no difference, because her disgruntled protests did nothing to stop Hachiel's flight.

* * *

><p>Church awoke to a wall of fluffy white hanging over his head. It did not take him too long to realize that this was Nanael's wing covering him, but what did surprise Church were the splotches of crimson spattered across the usually pristine feathers. Immediately concerned for his companion, Church gently reached out and brushed the marred surface of Nanael's wing, causing it to twitch and pull away from him as Nanael realized he was awake.<p>

"Geez, I was beginning to think you were actually dead. Don't scare me like that Church."

Casting his gaze around, Church found that he and Nanael were at the bottom of some sort of pit, surrounded by rubble and debris from their fall. He must have lost consciousness on impact...

"Nanael, are you alright? Your wing..."

Nanael glanced at her bloodied wing, not at all alarmed or worried about it. "Church, that blood isn't mine. A fall like this is nowhere near enough to make an angel bleed. The worst injury I have is this."

Nanael pointed to a patch of scraped skin on her arm, before pointing at Church's face. "The blood on my wing is from your face."

Church reached his hand up to feel around for any damage, only to find that his scalp was bleeding quite profusely, dirtying his hair and his clothes. "What happened? There's no way the whole tunnel collapsing into a chasm was a natural thing."

"It was probably a trap, set by those guys in the mine. I knew I shouldn't have trusted them..."

Church checked the rest of his person for any injuries, glad to find nothing beyond bruises and scrapes. "Well I trusted that Ross guy too, so I'm no better. Guess it goes to show that you can't trust someone just because they seem nice."

Nanael cocked an eyebrow at his poor choice of words. "Yep, trusting the nice guys always hurts the most in the end..."

Church immediately caught on to what Nanael was implying. "Now hold on, I wasn't talking about me. I'm not like that."

"Isn't that exactly what a nice guy trying to trick someone would say?"

Church glowered at the girl. "Hey, why are you acting like this with me just because some other guy pretending to be nice tricked us? I'm not him!"

Nanael shrugged. "You've seen one, you've seen them all..."

By this point Nanael was testing Church's patience. "That's not true! You can't just lump an entire group of people together like that! I haven't done anything to cause you to not trust me, right?"

"Not yet, but I'm not gonna stand around and wait for it to happen."

"It's not going to happen!"

Nanael sighed. She had no idea how this fight had gotten started, but somehow she felt like it was her fault. "That's what everyone else said before they turned me into a laughingstock in their little circle of friends. Look, maybe you would be the first person to not let me down like that, but I'm sick of getting hurt and I'm not going to risk it again. Can't you just be content with the acquaintance status we have?"

Church scowled as he realized he was suddenly and unexpectedly drifting away from Nanael, whose mood had quickly taken a turn for the worse. He had to turn things around somehow, before she shut herself away from him completely. "You trusted Hachiel, didn't you?"

Nanael turned and glared at him at the mention of her friend's name. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Hachiel probably started off a lot like me, doing her best to be a friend you deserved. You gave her a chance and she proved that it wasn't a mistake. Why can't you give me that chance too?"

Nanael turned away from Church as she tried to find a suitable retort. "Hachiel was a one time thing, and I hadn't been betrayed as much at that point..."

"But wasn't the risk worth it? I don't know how long you and Hachiel have been friends, but can you imagine if you had shut her out when you had first met? What would your life have been like without her there to be your friend?"

Nanael suddenly found herself losing this battle, though there was nothing she could really say to refute Church's words. He was right on all accounts...

"I'll admit that it would have been pretty terrible without her. But just because the risk payed off that one time doesn't mean it will again. After all, the record is already pretty bad. She's the only risk that's _ever _paid off."

Church walked towards Nanael and sat down beside her. "And she'll be the last risk to ever pay off if you never take that risk again. Nanael, I want to be your friend. I believe that you deserve more happiness, more people to care about you as deeply as you deserve. But I can only get as close as you'll let me. Please don't shut me out so soon, not before I've even had a chance to make you happy."

Nanael grudgingly admitted to herself that she wanted to let Church get closer to her as well. But she was worried what would happen if he got too close and ended up hurting her. She couldn't handle much more pain at this point in her life. She was on the edge of breaking completely as it was. But still, she couldn't just sit precariously on that edge her entire life could she? She had to find someone to put her faith in that could possibly fix her shattered heart, or forever be at risk of falling apart.

But that was a huge risk to take. Nanael was a fickle case, in which the actions of this one person she put her trust in could restore her to a whole person, or break her beyond repair. Who could she trust with something like that? Certainly not just anyone...

"Nanael, please... I promise I will do everything I can for you, anything within my power. You're a beautiful, amazing, wonderful person, and I can't bear to see you in the kind of pain you're in every hour of every day. I want to be there for you, to be the next risk you take that finally pays off. All I'm asking for is a chance..."

Nanael hugged her knees to her chest, pondering whether or not this was the final risk she wanted to take. One wrong move on Church's part could shatter her in an instant, while the path to fixing her broken heart would be far more arduous and long. If she had to believe in one person, could it be him...?

"I... I don't have an answer for you right now. Let me... let me think about it, alright? I need time..."

Church was about to say that he would give her all the time she wanted, but at that moment a sizzling sound from above attracted the attention of the pit's occupants. They both looked up, only to see several bombs fall from the darkness above. These were no small bombs either, but the kind used to blast away tons of rock in mining procedures.

Church and Nanael scrambled behind any cover they could find, doing their best to shield each other from the blasts as they echoed about the small space. Apparently time was not something they had to spare at the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>I kinda wanted to finish all of the Bosk arc in one go, but it's just not happening at this point. The chapter would be far too long to be enjoyable, so I'll try to finish it up next time.<strong>

**So, since we haven't done this in a while, tell me: which relationship do you support most right now, whether or not Church has interacted with that girl or not?**


	38. Tunnel Trouble

***Morpheus Face* What if I told you that I really _did _watch Queen's Blade for the plot?**

**I'm re-watching the series right now to help me out with the story, and as much as I love gratuitous fanservice, I so wish Hobby Japan had capitalized on the unique characters and setting. Queen's Blade had the potential to be something really amazing, but it fell short when the ratio of fanservice to plot became 3 to 1. **

**Anway, I'm glad no one has had an issue with OC personalities in this fic. Granted, even if someone did I wouldn't change anything, but it's still nice. I wonder why though? Is it just because the level of OC is tolerable? Like, maybe Alleyne isn't exactly like she was in the anime, but close enough? How do you guys feel about OC characters? To what extent is OK? I'm just curious though, don't expect your answer to make me change anything about the fic itself.**

**By the way, I'm giving you fair warning right now that this chapter is a bit more sexually suggestive than usual. Then again, considering the anime in question, are any of us really surprised?**

* * *

><p>"Has it ever occurred to you that we're like, the only servants the Witch has?"<p>

Airi and Melona had made it back to the Swamp Witch and her corrupted lands about a day ago. Needless to say, they had both received quite the vicious verbal lashing upon their arrival, but thankfully the Witch had been pleased about a particular turn of events, and had decided not to employ any actual punishment for the recent failures of her minions.

Unfortunately, Airi and Melona were not allowed any rest at all from their recent journey: the moment the Witch was done scolding them for both their inability to return Menace to the swamp and for taking too long in returning themselves, the two supernatural women were burdened with more orders. Being forced to leave the swamp so soon after arrival had Melona in a sour mood as she and Airi moved leisurely down the very road they had traveled to get there in the first place.

"I mean seriously, if she's so damn powerful, why doesn't she have more than two servants, huh? Can't she resurrect more people to do stuff like this?"

Airi was a little miffed about the situation as well, but hid it far better than her pinkette companion. It was very difficult to get Airi irritated over anything related to the Swamp Witch's orders. She was fanatically loyal to the woman, after all.

"Master does have other servants, but she uses them for more... 'private' purposes."

"You mean fucking, right?"

Airi glared at the slime beside her who had no inkling of social tact. "Yes Melona, that's what I meant. We both knew that's what I meant. Why did you even have to say it?"

"Well you weren't going to."

"For a reason."

The two of them walked on in silence for a short while, but unfortunately the thought of sex had gotten Melona thinking about some things she probably shouldn't have been. "Hey Airi, the Swamp Bitch has never used you for these 'private' purposes, has she?"

Airi scowled at the mere idea of it. The thought of someone using her body as a plaything was revolting, even if the person in question was her master. "Fortunately not. Master has never made use of me in such a way. I believe she values me as a tool for killing more than pleasing herself."

"You sound pretty mad just thinking about it, y'know? I thought nothing made you happier than pleasing your master? You wouldn't be happy to let her use your body like that?"

Airi's already irritable gaze intensified as Melona suggested such ludicrous things. "What are you getting at Melona? Of course I live to serve my master, but there's only one person I would be glad to give myself to like tha-"

Airi stopped dead in her tracks, a crimson blush spreading across her face as she realized what she was saying, what she was implying, and what thoughts were now running through her mind. Melona on the other hand, was trying her absolute hardest to not pounce on this golden opportunity to tease the maid, but it was useless.

"So, there's only one person you'd just love to give yourself to like that, huh? Hm, I wonder who it could be? Certainly no one I know, right? Hmm..."

Airi pushed past the slime, hoping to get far enough ahead of Melona to escape her merciless teasing. Unfortunately, the pinkette was hot on her heels, eager to rib Airi about this new revelation regarding the maid's not so innocent thoughts.

"I never woulda guessed someone like you would think such things Airi..."

"S-shut up Melona... I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh, but you did, you definitely did! You're a full-blown pervert Airi, admit it!"

"I'm not!"

Melona smirked at her. "So if you and Church were making passionate love, and he wanted to try something a little unorthodox..."

"What the hell do you mean by 'unorthodox'?"

Melona shrugged. "I dunno, I'm just theorizing. So uh... let's see... oh, what about ana-!"

Airi cut Melona off before she could finish, her thoughts running wild with lewd images of herself and the man she loved doing such obscene things together. Needless to say, her blush earlier was no comparison to the near burgundy tinge of her cheeks at this point. "No! Absolutely not! That's disgusting, there's no way I would ever agree to that!"

Her perverted curiosity dampened by such a prudish answer, Melona pouted like a child. Clearly there was little fun to be had in teasing Airi any further, so she started to move ahead of the wraith herself. "Pfft, lame..."

Utterly confused about how someone could be glum over her own sexual preferences, Airi muttered to herself after she believed Melona to be out of earshot. "I mean, maybe if he were gentle about it... I guess it wouldn't be so bad..."

Unfortunately, Airi didn't know that Melona's bunny ears weren't mere props: they allowed Melona to hear things most people could not, which included the quietly uttered words Airi had said just now, and that had the slime back in Airi's face in an instant. "Holy shit, seriously?! I knew it!"

"H-how did you even hear that?!"

"That's not the point! The point here is that you're a huuuuuge perv! Even more than me, and that's saying something!"

Unable to muster any words to defend herself, Airi decided that it was merely best to retreat, and so took to the air to speed away from Melona and the inevitable onslaught of teasing that would follow. However, without actual muscles to control her speed and endurance, Melona was capable of running much faster than Airi had anticipated, and managed to stay close enough to the wraith to continue accosting her.

"Hey Airi, what if Church asked you to suck his-"

Airi clamped her hands over her ears, attempting to block out the harassing words of her traveling companion. "Shut up! I...I'm a good person! There's nothing wrong with being OK with stuff like that, right?!"

"Wrong! You're a huuuuuge perv~! We both know it!"

Airi pressed the palms of her hands against her ears even harder than before. It was actually quite effective, but at this point there was nothing that could be done about her shattered mental purity. The slime had effortlessly poisoned her mind: Airi could barely think straight with the lewd images running through her head right now. Still, as the duo rushed down the road in an attempt to either escape or catch the other, Airi could think clearly enough to swear one thing: she was definitely going to get Melona back for this.

* * *

><p>Church sneezed into the sleeve of his jacket, and couldn't help but remember that old superstition that said you would sneeze if someone was talking about you. Then again, maybe he just needed to clear out the dust in his nostrils.<p>

While the handful of bombs that had been dropped on him and Nanael had been powerful, both victims had managed to escape injury, though it was mostly thanks to Nanael's nigh invincible body. She had once again saved Church from most of the danger by absorbing it herself, though she hardly looked any worse off for it. The full extent of the young angel's afflictions was a few blackened feathers, covered in gunpowder from the bombs.

With the bottom of the pit basically turned to rubble, the duo was crouched behind a large boulder, hoping that a second barrage from above would not follow if their attackers thought them dead. Still, Church couldn't help but quietly marvel at Nanael's apparent invulnerability.

"Nanael, is there anything that can actually hurt you beyond a bruise? You're like a tank."

Nanael didn't know what a tank was, but figured Church was giving her a complement. "Almost nothing here on earth could actually kill an angel, but there are a few really drastic things that could injure me pretty seriously."

Church gently reached out for Nanael's wings, attempting to brush off the dust and soot from the explosions. Her wings were sensitive, but Nanael found that she didn't mind the feel of his touch, so long as he was careful. Still, her defective wing was sore, and she folded it in to let him know that it was not to be touched: she was positive Church was smart enough to take the hint. "A weapon with a really powerful enchantment could probably hurt me, but there hasn't been a wizard strong enough in mystic arts to make a weapon that powerful for centuries."

"An enchanted weapon huh? Like that thunder sword that one woman had?"

Nanael nodded, consciously keeping her wing from recoiling anytime Church accidentally pulled a little too hard. "Yeah, something like that. It's an enchanted weapon, but nowhere near strong enough to really harm an angel. You've seen how ineffective it is against me already. Besides that, there are some demonic weapons and attacks that could hurt an angel, but they would have to be crazy powerful."

Church cringed as he accidentally plucked a small feather on the edge of Nanael's left wing. Fortunately, she either didn't notice, or chose to ignore the mistake. "Do you know anyone who has a demonic weapon?"

"The Queen has a pretty powerful demon sword, and a lot of hellish powers too: but I don't know how strong they are. No one in the past two Queen's Blade tournaments was strong enough to warrant using those powers against them, so the Queen's strength is still pretty unclear. People know she's strong, but no one is sure just how strong."

Though there were still black stains on Nanael's wings, Church decided there was nothing more he could do about it, and sat back on his haunches. He was interested in this Queen's Blade business: from what he had heard, it was an event of great importance, and he was interested in the notion of a Queen chosen solely through battle. "Demonic weapons and powers huh...? So is the current Queen really evil or something? She's not like, a tyrant or anything, right?"

Nanael massaged the base of her defective wing as she glanced up at the darkness above. So far no one had decided to attack them again, and technically she could have simply carried Church back up there. But even though Nanael was nearly invincible, she did have a weak spot. Her defective wing was a very vulnerable part of her body, and she had landed right on it when she and Church crashed into the ground. The small wing hurt too much to even spread fully, never mind fly on, which it had difficulty with under normal circumstances. She found it funny that Church had not suggested flying back up already, but maybe he had realized that Nanael would have suggested it already if she could.

With their one route of escape currently unavailable, Nanael could do nothing but answer Church's question.

"Nah. Queen Aldra is pretty popular with the public. I mean, she's raised taxes pretty high before, but it was only during the reconstruction period following Queen Veronica's reign, and during the war with the North Realm. After that she returned them to normal, so it's not like she's an unreasonable ruler. The people only really like her because she's a good leader though. She's not charismatic enough to be popular for personality, or if she is, she never shows it."

"You sure do know a lot about this. I didn't think an angel like you would really care about human affairs."

"Well I was originally supposed to orchestrate fights for the tournament, but I was reassigned to something else before the it even started. I had to learn a lot about the current regime, and the fighters who planned on joining."

Church peeked up at the darkness above as well, wondering if they would be showered by more bombs when they least expected it. "So you know a lot about the fighters in the tournament, huh?"

"Of course, I know about all of the toughest fighters around, even if they aren't participating. I had to, in case any of them ended up joining at the last minute."

"Who can you tell me about?"

"You'll have to be a little more specific than that Church, there's a lot of fighters around."

Church thought of asking about someone he knew, but decided that there was no need, since there was no guarantee that any of them were participating in the Queen's Blade tournament. "Well, is there anyone interesting in particular?"

Nanael wracked her mind for the identities of anyone truly interesting. She didn't have the little red book that detailed the world's fighters with her: there had been no reason to bring it for the current investigation. "Well...most of the fighters are human, and pretty boring. Hmm... oh, I guess there's this one chick with pretty big tits who can control fire. There hasn't been a human with magic powers so potent for a long time."

The mention of a voluptuous fire-wielding woman rang several bells in Church's mind. "You mean Nyx? She's the only woman I know who can control flames..."

"Yeah, that's her. How'd you know?"

"I met her once a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what happened to her though..."

Church felt a little guilty about it, but he had honestly forgotten about Nyx until this point. Granted, he had spent less than a day in her company, but she had helped him out of a tight spot in Alabaster Town. Recalling the sexy and undoubtedly adorable visage of the brunette, Church had no idea how he had forgotten about her at all. She was certainly a unique individual, and very beautiful besides, especially with that alluring crimson dress she wore. How on earth had he managed to keep her out of his head?

Church's thoughts were cut short as a loud thudding noise began to reverberate throughout the pit. "For Christ's sake, what now?"

* * *

><p>Nyx felt absurdly happy for some reason. If asked, she would not be able to say why: she just felt like something good had happened, even as her nervousness with the current situation continued to grow. Alabaster Town had recovered from the crisis Nyx had partaken in already, and by now things had returned to normal. That meant that the town had reopened preliminary registration for the upcoming Queen's Blade, and that meant Nyx was signing up, albeit dressed in a far less noticeable outfit than her usual crimson attire.<p>

Nyx didn't have full confidence in her own abilities: but she was determined to try to take the throne regardless, for her own ends. Funikura had made it clear that it simply craved the power, but Nyx wanted to be Queen so she could change the state of poverty in the Vance lands. Of course, she would have to go to war with Vance to gain authority over them... but Nyx despised the Vance family, so that would not be a problem for her.

That was why she was in line at Alabaster's Town's only dueling ring, if one could even call the small establishment that, waiting to sign up for her chance to change the world for the better. Funikura was not with her of course: its presence would easily give away her identity as one of the criminals that was causing trouble earlier.

Of course, anything Queen's Blade related was outlawed in Vance territory: the Count despised the tournament and everything to do with it. This registration was not exactly legal, but no one, not even the soldiers, truly cared to report it. Even in a land where it was outlawed, Queen's Blade was a very popular event, and the more fighters there were, the longer and more interesting it would be. Only cities closer to the Vance seat of power actually enforced anti-registration laws: towns closer to the outskirts, such as Alabaster, easily performed the registration. Once it was over, someone from the town would volunteer to take the list of fighters across the border and to the nearest city in the Queen's lands, at which point they would be officially added to the roster of combatants for the tournament.

Of course, there were a ton of women signing up, many of them looking for a shot at fame or glory, but only a select few would make it to the main event. Once registration was officially over, there would be many preliminary battles between the participants. These fights could take place anywhere on the Continent, and an angel from Heaven would broadcast the fight across the country. Preliminary rounds would continue until the number of participants had been reduced to a more manageable number, at which point official, set battles would be fought closer to Gainos. Needless to say, it was quite a complex system.

While Nyx herself was certainly not a bundle of infallible confidence, she was not too worried about getting through these random preliminary encounters. Many of the women in line with her did not appear to be ferocious warriors. Then again, she must not have looked like much of a fighter either, without her usual attire. Even her body looked nothing like that toned and athletic form of a fighter: after all, Nyx's fighting style did not require her to be fit to that degree. Besides, she preferred the more feminine and womanly form she had: Nyx liked her lithe and slender body, and had no desire to shape it into something tough and muscular, especially now that she was aiming to please someone other than Funikura...

"Hey lady! Are you signin' up or what?"

Nyx flinched at the sound of a loud, obnoxious male voice calling out to her. At this point in her life, Nyx simply expected men to harass her, so it was natural reflex to get a little nervous when one called out to her. Still, the dark-haired attendant sitting at the desk that had been placed in front of the dueling ring was simply trying to get her attention, since Nyx had zoned out and subconsciously moved forward in line.

"Ah, y-yes... I am. Where exactly do I sign?"

The man pointed to a certain spot on the page lying on his desk, cocking an eyebrow at the seemingly dull woman before him. "You don't look like much of a fighter..."

"W-well, neither do most of the women here... looks can be deceiving you know."

"Yeah, well you look like you belong in a kitchen, not an arena."

Under normal circumstances, Nyx was a kind individual. But like anyone else, she had a dark side, and possessed quite a few triggers that made that side rear its ugly head. Anything that reminded her of her days of servitude for Vance, and anyone who suggested that she belonged in such a state, rarely remained unscathed.

But this man was lucky. Nyx was well aware that she could not roast him alive. If she used her powers here, every soldier in town would come running to subdue her. After all, there were not many women who could control flames, and the incident she had basically caused a few weeks ago was not so far in the past that she would be forgotten, much to this man's fortune. Besides, without Funikura, she could not muster even a single spark, never mind an inferno...

Unable to punish him physically for his transgression, Nyx settled for a murderous glare. One would not think such an adorable face could sport such a look of hatred, but the level of killing intent Nyx could muster was truly terrifying. Needless to say, the man before her had no other smart-ass comments to make: not as Nyx finished her registration, not as she turned and left the table, and not even after she was out of sight. There was no way in hell he was going to risk her being even angrier at him.

* * *

><p>Having miraculously survived the fall from earlier, Church hefted the crossbow Ymir had lent him in his arms. The repetitive thudding in the pit had been going on for several minutes, and growing progressively louder. Church had no idea if a crossbow would be any use against what was making the noise, but he figured it was best to have something to defend himself with regardless.<p>

He and Nanael scanned the walls of their prison for anything suspicious. Everything seemed normal, with the exception of a large crack in the wall to their left that seemed to be growing slightly with every wave of sound that echoed throughout the pit.

"Nanael, was that crack there before all of this banging started?"

Nanael flexed her fingers as she strode up to the damaged part of the wall. "I don't think so. You think our attackers are on the other side?"

Church readied his crossbow. "I don't know who else would be. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The powerhouse angel cocked her first back. "You bet I am. Whoever's on the other side of this thing is gonna get it! Take this!"

Nanael's armored fist crashed into the center of the spiderweb cracks in the wall, blasting the entire surface backwards as the force of her blow caused it to collapse. The shattered stone tumbled into an open cavern on the opposite side of the pit, its crushing force causing loud shrieks and wails from whatever creatures were unfortunate enough to be in the way.

As the dust cleared, Church and his angelic companion laid eyes on the crushed bodies of creatures that were certainly not human. Buried under the heavy boulders created from Nanael's attack were the crumpled forms of small, green, pointy-eared and pointy-nosed things with yellow eyes. They looked like wild animals to Church, but many of the dead creatures sported makeshift wooden and metal shields and weapons, so clearly they were domesticated to some extent.

Church prodded one of the bodies with his toe. "What on earth are these things...?"

Nanael could only shrug. "I've got no idea. They look kinda like goblins, but those things are usually too stupid to make even crappy makeshift weapons like these. Besides, I think goblins are a bit more scrawny..."

Church was about to question the angel further when more high-pitched squeals echoed throughout the recently exposed cavern. The cry was quickly echoed by more calls, and Church figured that he and Nanael were about to have a lot of trouble on their hands.

Another pack of the green-skinned monsters appeared out of the shadows at the end of the tunnel, irate over the deaths of their comrades. Drawing makeshift slingshots, each of the creatures began to sling rocks at their humanoid opponents. They were decent sized chunks of rock, and a direct hit could have probably broken a bone, but there was no need for him to dodge. Most of the projectiles fell short of his person, and the few that did make it to him were blocked by Nanael's impervious body. The pieces of stone shattered as they hit her body, none of them leaving even a single scratch on their target. Her metal-clad arm served as a shield of sorts, but it was likely that Nanael did not even need to block at all. It wouldn't have surprised Church if one of the stones hit her in the face, only to break apart against her without so much as a flinch.

Since Church was clear to do so, he took aim at one of the unknown cretins with his nocked crossbow. The enemy wasn't too keen on dodging, and did nothing to hide even as Church unleashed a metal bolt from his weapon. The lead member of the band of foes was pierced through the skull, the end of the launched projectile jutting out from the other side. A splash of dark crimson and fragments of bone showered the other creatures behind their dead leader, and they quickly retreated down the tunnel in fear.

Church and Nanael moved forward to examine the fallen monster, and while she wasn't one to indulge in violence, Nanael was pretty impressed with the skill Church had displayed while killing it. "You're a really good shot, huh? Hit him right in the nose..."

Church on the other hand, felt a little differently about the situation. This was the first time he had slain another living thing in a long while. It wasn't as if he had killed a human, but either way, Church was reminded of the bitter taste of killing. It was a flavor he had not missed.

Either way, Church had a limited supply of ammunition, and it would be best to recover what he could from the fallen. With that in mind, he bent over to claim the bolt he had fired, but it was firmly lodged in this goblin-like creature's skull. No matter how hard he pulled, it was stuck, and did nothing but make sickening squelching noises as he tried to withdraw it from the brain.

Seeing his lack of success, Nanael gently pushed Church aside. "Here, let me get it."

Church moved behind Nanael as she planted a booted foot on the torso of the dead monster to keep it down as she pulled. She grabbed hold of the bolt's tail, careful to gauge her strength appropriately. If she pushed or pulled too hard, Nanael would likely end up covered in guts, and that wasn't high on her to-do list.

"Alright, here we go!"

There was a loud crunch and a snap as Nanael tumbled backwards, her endeavor having failed utterly. The force of her boot had crushed the rib cage of her pedestal, and instead of dislodging the bolt, she had accidentally snapped off the end. The sudden and unexpected lack of resistance had her stumbling back into the man behind her, who was quick to drop Ymir's crossbow to catch the angel. He had promised not to scratch the thing, but catching Nanael was more of a reflex than a conscious decision.

Church caught the unstable angle by the waist, his grip a little awkward since he had to maneuver his arms to avoid Nanael's wings. The result of this difficulty was only one arm around the waist, and the other quite a bit higher. Fortunately Church had managed to avoid unwittingly groping Nanael, but the weight of her breasts were pressing down on his arm regardless as he held her body just under them. Not for the first time, Church noted that Nanael was quite blessed in the bodily department, as she wasn't too small nor too large, and her hips had a nice curvaceous width to them as well...

Realizing that the situation would quickly become awkward if he didn't say anything, Church tried to peek around the tufts of soft blue hair that was obscuring his vision so he could see Nanael's face. "Nanael, are you alright?"

Being an angel, it was foolish to ask if Nanael had been injured, but she was remarkably quiet to have merely suffered a tiny fall. Perhaps she was just stunned? "Um... Nanael?"

The girl suddenly laced her fingers with Church's hand around her waist, causing him to flinch at the unexpected contact. "Hey... Can I ask you something?"

A little distracted by the feeling of her hand in his, even if it was dulled by a glove, Church's response was not well formulated. "S-sure..."

"Do you like it?"

"L-like what?"

Nanael turned her head so Church wouldn't be able to see her expression. "M-my body... if I were human, would you think I'm beautiful?"

With such a question posed to him, Church quickly regained all focus. He knew that in a situation like this, he needed to pick his words very carefully. "Nanael, I think you're beautiful as an angel. You wouldn't be you without your wings. They're an amazing part of who you are, and I think they're wonderful. You shouldn't hate them so much."

Since he couldn't see her face, it was hard to tell if his words had a positive or negative effect on Nanael. Whatever the effect, Nanael quickly pushed them aside as she steered the conversation away from this topic. She pushed herself out of Church's arms with seeming ease, but she was honestly reluctant to leave his embrace. "Alright Casanova, that's enough of that. You would really flirt with a girl no matter what the situation, wouldn't you?"

Church knew that Nanael was simply trying to avoid progressing on the previous topic, but decided to play along with it anyway. It would be best to save such things until after they had found a way back to the surface. "I wasn't flirting y'know. I meant every word of that..."

Instead of rebutting him and by extension prolonging talk of herself, Nanael waved around the broken metal crossbow bolt she had attempted to recover but a moment ago. "Yeah... sorry about this. You don't think that dwarf chick will be mad, do you?"

Church sighed, disappointed that his efforts were coming to a standstill. Clearly, this would have to wait until later. "No, I think Ymir will be fine. I mean, without you here, I would have died already, so she should cut me some slack, all things considered. This expedition was her idea, after all."

Nanael did seem happy to be credited with saving Church's life, but made no further mention of it. "Well, she'll be really mad if you die down here and lose her stuff, so we'd better find a way out of here."

Hoisting his crossbow once again, Church nodded, careful to step over the fallen body of the creature he had slain a few minutes ago. "You're right. The sooner we get out of here, the better. You think we should follow the monsters that ran earlier?"

Nanael followed Church's lead, a step or two behind him. "I guess? I mean, they probably have a way out of here, right? This cave is not a natural formation, so it probably leads somewhere."

"Probably."

"But we'll also probably run into more of those green midgets while we're at it..."

"Well with you next to me, there's no reason to worry about those things."

Nanael smiled, once again glad that she was being recognized for her usefulness. For someone who had rarely received praise since the day she had been created, just one word of recognition was enough to swell her heart with joy.

* * *

><p>"I knew it! This place is swarming with Kobolds! I should have known better than to send Church here alone..."<p>

Hachiel peeked out from behind Ymir's massive axe, having hidden her eyes from the violence that had just ensued. The dwarf was surrounded by the crumpled forms of little green humanoid things, many of them cleaved in two by Ymir's huge weapon. Seeing such a diminutive girl kill so many creatures, human or not, was a little unsettling.

"What exactly are... Kobolds?"

Ymir flexed her arms, a little sore from swinging around her axe so much. Even with her gauntlet, it was a heavy weapon for a girl of her body type to be wielding. "Kobolds are distantly related to goblins, but live solely in caves or underground areas. They seem like simple-minded creatures, but they're pretty crafty, and experts when it comes to ambushes or traps. Physically, they're frail and weak, but that's why they travel in packs. They're no match for me of course, but this is probably too much for Church..."

"Nanael is with him, so there's no way the two of them will fall to such weak creatures."

"Are you sure? How strong are angels anyway?"

"Much stronger than you, rest assured."

Apparently that was supposed to be assurance of some sort, but all it did was irritate the dwarf. All this clueless angel had to do was tell her that Church would be fine, _without _degrading Ymir's own strength. "I'll have you know that Steam Tyranny is the most powerful weapon I have ever created! Don't take it so lightly!"

Hachiel cocked an eyebrow at her. "Steam... Tyranny?"

Ymir waved her gauntlet around. "This! It's a steam-powered engine that increases my strength and attack speed! It's my greatest creation! It can even compare to the strength of an angel, I'm sure of it!"

Hachiel refrained from saying that any man-made weapon could never hold a candle to the strength of an angel, especially one of Nanael's level. She would let Ymir believe what she wanted, to avoid being rude if nothing else. Besides, right now, finding Nanael and Church was much more important than determining who was stronger between an angel and a dwarf.

Unfortunately, although Hachiel could determine the rough direction of Nanael and her partner, her senses were not precise enough to know their exact location. This meant that it was going to take some time to find them, and right now time wasn't something they had in spades.

"Ymir, with how many Kobolds you've defeated here, do you really think there are enough left in the cave to threaten the others?"

"Definitely. Kobolds live in huge tribes that set up in deep caves and mines. The few dozen I took care of here are probably nothing more than a scouting party. If we don't hurry, your friends could be in real trouble."

With this information in mind, Hachiel quickly grabbed Ymir by the arm and led her in the direction she could sense Nanael. "Then what are we waiting for!? We have to go right now!"

* * *

><p>There had been no attacks from the little green men since Church and Nanael had begun their search for an exit to the mine. Considering that only one had been killed, neither of them was sure where the others had run off to, but for the most part, they were not concerned. Nanael obviously had no reason to be, since there was nothing these creatures could possibly throw at her that would hurt her even a little. Church on the other hand, was still slightly worried since he could be far more easily killed. But honestly, he couldn't help but feel safe with Nanael beside him.<p>

Still, if he ran into a trap or something, it was possible that Church could be injured or killed before Nanael could react and protect him. Even so, he wasn't going to make Nanael walk in front. The last thing he was going to do was use her as an over-glorified shield.

That being said, Church was leading the way down the dark tunnels of the abandoned mine, Nanael following closely behind so she could light the way for him. There was no natural or artificial light available down here, so Nanael's ambient light was the only option. This led Church to believe that the monsters that lived down here had night vision, but an advantage like that shouldn't have made much of a difference in their situation. After all, he had Nanael with him, and that was the biggest advantage of all.

"I should have known this would be far more troublesome than it sounded. When will I learn?"

Nanael shrugged. She honestly wasn't all that displeased with the situation. After all, she was spending a lot of time with Church, and despite all of the obstacles they had encountered so far, it was time well spent. "It isn't all that bad. We're still in one piece, right?"

Church nodded. "Well optimistically speaking, yes... but we also lost the ore we came here to get. I couldn't find any of it under all the rubble from earlier. I know it can't be helped, but it's still unfortunate."

The angel behind Church smiled, finding that she was actually enjoying all of this quite a bit. "Just think of it as an adventure! This is kinda exciting."

While Church couldn't wholeheartedly agree, he was happy that Nanael was enjoying herself. He never would have expected her to, but he wasn't going to question something good. "You're right. It's all about perspective..."

The duo came to a stop at a slight incline in the tunnel. The shape of the walkway itself was strangely rounded and smooth, though Church couldn't imagine why...

Suddenly a loud rumbling erupted from the top of the incline, and a large, round boulder entered Church and Nanael's view from above the lip. It quickly began to descend from the top, rolling towards its victims below.

"You've got to be kidding me, what is this Indiana Jones bullshit?!"

Naturally, Nanael was no more worried than before. She took a step in front of Church, and spread out her regular wing to protect him from any ensuing destruction from what she was about to do. "Alright Church, just stay behind me. I'll handle this no problem."

Church did as he was told as Nanael stretched her arms over her head, completely unfazed by the danger before her. Church was a little irritated to have to hide and count on someone else again, but he understood the necessity.

Nanael cocked her arm back as the rolling boulder approached her, charging power far beyond what any mortal could hope to achieve. It was no surprise that by the time the boulder reached the two companions, it was in pieces. Nanael had simply straight punched it in the center as it approached, shattering the solid stone without so much as a grunt of discomfort on her part.

Church was careful to stay behind Nanael until the fragments of stone had stopped ricocheting off of the walls of the cave. He couldn't help but comment as he stepped out from behind her. "It seems these monsters are a little smarter than we gave them credit for. Still, I guess they wouldn't expect someone like you here to thwart all of their traps. You're completely unstoppable Nanael."

The blue-haired girl flexed an arm. "Why thank you. I aim to please."

Kicking a rock out of his way, Church proceeded to take the lead once again. "I know I'm probably starting to sound like a kiss-ass, but there really is nothing to be scared of when I have you here, Nanael. You're truly something else."

Being behind Church, Nanael wasn't afraid to allow a wide smile to cross her face. She didn't want Church to know just how happy he could make her, at least not yet. She was still debating whether or not he could be the one person to entrust her broken heart to, and she didn't want him to think he could get there solely through flattery, even though she did enjoy it.

"Thanks. I mean, I've heard that before, but being the oddball has never been a good thing to anyone else."

"Well, being unique will always be a good thing to me. You'll never have to worry about that."

Coming over the edge of the incline, Church and Nanael were met with the sight of a large, open chamber, apparently the source of the boulder that had come to crush them. It also sported quite a large number of inhabitants, all in the form of the lanky little green things that had been harassing the duo thus far. They all looked quite amazed to see their prey alive, though it was likely because they had never encountered an angel before.

Unfortunately, this amazement did not evolve into fear, but anger. The monsters seemed very displeased that someone had managed to survive what they thought was a surefire means to kill anything.

Nanael sighed at the sight of it. To be honest she kind of enjoyed fighting, but to the extent that this would require would be more troublesome than exciting. Church on the other hand, was slightly worried about being so heavily outnumbered. Whether or not Nanael was here, he could only fire his crossbow every few seconds, and if all of these things rushed them at once...

With a collective screech of rage and desperation, the massive group of creatures raised their makeshift weapons and charged en masse at the foes before them. Nanael was calm as ever before the onslaught, but that didn't stop Church from shooting a crossbow bolt into one of the lead attackers, causing it to fall to the ground and trip its comrades behind it.

He was quick to reload, but even so Church only had enough time for one more shot before he would have to fight up close. Nanael must have realized this, because she moved close to her companion before the wave reached them. "I'll cover you while you fight Church. I won't let any of them reach you."

Suddenly Church found all of his worries regarding this situation disappear. He was outnumbered, and more importantly he was a long-range fighter surrounded in close combat, but with Nanael as his vanguard, he had nothing to worry about. "Thanks Nanael. I have no idea what I would do without you."

Quickly concealing a smile, Nanael put on a serious face for the fight ahead. After all, as she pulverized the first monster that got too close to her, the angel realized that she would have looked terrifying with a smile on her face.

With Nanael guarding him, Church began to drop enemies from a distance as quickly as he could. He briefly thought that it was troubling that Nanael could kill so easily, but reminded himself that he was doing the same, and that they were killing to protect each other and themselves. That thought significantly lowered Church's dismay about the whole situation.

Still, the crunch of bones from Nanael's blows was disconcerting. Church had no doubt that every attack was fatal. If she could shatter that boulder earlier with a single punch, their current diminutive foes certainly stood no chance against her.

Church ducked under the haphazard swing of a stone club as one of the green monsters got a little too close for comfort. He was about to ask for Nanael's help, but the angel noticed before he could say anything at all, and she planted her booted heel in the creature's face without hesitation. Church made a conscious effort to block out the crunch of its skull as it flew backwards, but ultimately failed. He couldn't help but feel a little sick about it.

But misgivings aside, he was still ready to fight, and a crossbow bolt soon found its way into the torso of another enemy. That was the ninth foe Church had killed so far, much less than Nanael, but a decent number nevertheless. His ammo was limited, and he didn't have enough time to recover any bolts from the fallen. Meanwhile, the number of opponents had not seem to have decreased at all. Even with Nanael's strength, it wasn't looking good. She was an angel, but did she have a limit? Would she tire before this was over? There was no way Church could handle it on his own...

Just as Church was starting to grow slightly concerned over the situation, a loud banging began emitting from the ceiling. It sounded awfully similar to the noise that had heralded the arrival of these things earlier, so this caused Church's fears to amplify.

As if on cue, the ceiling collapsed as a bullet of pink, white, and blue smashed through it, followed by a cloud of steam. This form crashed into the swarm of green monsters below, crushing a few and blowing away many more.

Church had a feeling he knew who was in the cloud of steam, but as loud, obnoxious laughter erupted from it, there was no mistaking the person's identity.

"I told you didn't I?! Steam Tyranny is the most powerful tool ever invented!"

Church raised his gaze to the hole Ymir had created as a tuft of pink hair emerged from it, the rest of Hachiel following soon after. "I know, you've said as much many times already..."

With the arrival of two new foes, the green cretins that had been harassing Nanael and Church quickly scattered in fear, determined to escape deeper into the caverns, much to Ymir's dismay.

"Hey, get back here you Kobold bastards! I still have to prove that my weapons are the best!"

Church couldn't help but smile: why not, now that this crisis was finally over?

* * *

><p>"I'm really, really sorry."<p>

Ymir's apology was by no means unexpected, especially since it was the fourth time she had done so since the group of four had begun backtracking their way out of the mine. Church understood why she would be regretful and all, but he really was not displeased over what had happened in the caverns. It had given him the perfect chance to speak to Nanael alone.

"I said it was fine Ymir. There was no loss of life or limb, so it's no big deal. I'm just bummed I couldn't get that ore for you. I really wanted a weapon..."

"You idiot, get your priorities straight! Your life is more important than a bunch of stupid rocks! Besides, I asked you to see if there was any ore, not bring it out, and you did, so I'll keep my end of the deal."

Church felt like he was essentially robbing the dwarf under these circumstances, but knew that it was futile to argue with her. Ymir was cute, but stubborn.

Having walked for some time, the company soon found itself in the light of day again. It was much later than when Church and Nanael had entered the mine, but the sun was still hanging low in the sky.

Ymir jabbed a finger into the air, her voice as rambunctious as always. "Alright, let's get back to Bosk! I'm hungry, and Cattleya cooks a mean baked potato!"

With that, Ymir stomped off in the direction of Bosk, and surprisingly, Hachiel was right behind her. Apparently the two had formed a friendship of sorts, strange as it was. Church was about to follow them, but was stopped when Nanael grabbed his hand from behind. She had been quiet for awhile now, but Church had assumed she was just tired.

"Nanael, what's wro-"

Church's voice died in his throat as he turned to face the angel. He could see it. For the first time since he had met her, Nanael was completely without her facade of laughs, smiles, and boasts. She was revealing her inner self, right at this moment, and Church could see everything in her eyes. He could see the sadness, the bitterness, the self-loathing, and the hatred of those who had wronged her. He could also see the faintest glimmer of hope: hope that this man before her could make things better than they were.

"Church, I... I want to trust you. I really want to trust you, even though I'm scared. I don't want to be hurt again, but if I don't do something the pain will never end. So I'm going to trust you, right now. Please... please don't make me regret it."

Church tightened his own grip around Nanael's hand as he stared into her eyes, trying to make his determination clear. "Nanael... thank you for giving me a chance. I can't promise that I'll never hurt you by mistake, but I swear that I will do anything and everything I can to make you happy, no matter what."

The tiniest of smiles crossed Nanael's face, and to Church, it was more gratifying than any other he had seen from her. With her guard down completely, nothing about Nanael's expression was fake, and that meant that this smile, however slight, was real. He had made her smile. Though it was just for a brief moment, he had made her happy.

The moment was quickly lost as Nanael raised her usual emotional barrier once again, a cheery yet stilted smile replacing her genuine one. "Well, I'm getting kinda hungry too, so why don't we get after those two?"

With that, Nanael moved off in the direction Ymir and Hachiel had taken towards Bosk, leaving Church alone with his thoughts for a moment.

_Nanael... I don't know what I can do for you, but I'll do anything and everything I can. I won't betray the trust you've placed in me: I promise._

* * *

><p><strong>Well, the Bosk arc is finally nearing its end. It used to be called Renzas, but re-watching QB proved that the name of Cattleya's town was actually Bosk.<strong>

**Anyway, if you guys get bored waiting for the next update, you'll be happy to know that I've updated this entire story. _I_revised every chapter up to this point, and while some changes are minors, such as settings descriptors, others are major, like the addition of entire new scenes or a redux of important dialogue. It might be fun for you to go back and see if you can spot the differences.**

**Also, remember to check out other stories if I've written something for another fandom you like. I started a new fic for Naruto, and it's one of the best things I've done in a long while, so check it out if you're interested.**

**Finally, remember that I love hearing from you guys. I'm biased against my own work (aren't we all?), so it's always nice to get other opinions.**


	39. Creativity and Confidence

**Finally, after cranking out a 20,000 word chapter for Manifest Destiny, I'm back. The Bosk arc is almost over, and then, we can finally reach a huge turning point in this fic with Gainos. Is it a halfway point? Maybe not, but it will certainly mark the beginning of the real conflicts this story will have to offer. But we're not there yet, so let's have a nice, laidback, development chapter.**

**Anyway, I've asked before who everyone's favorite character is, but I've never thought to ask who their least favorite is. I found it hard to really hate anyone in QB, since every character kinda just grew on me over time, but there have always been characters that just aren't on the same level as most of my favorites (Risty, Cattleya, Menace, etc.). So, if you feel like sharing with me, who's your least favorite QB character and why?**

* * *

><p>"Forty-seven...forty-eight...for...f-forty...nine..."<p>

Alleyne watched with folded arms as Nowa struggled to complete her fiftieth pull-up. With their group situated on the outskirts of some woods near a human settlement, the young half-elf had plenty of branches to use as makeshift bars.

Echidna, reclined on a particularly curved and comfortable branch, watched with amusement as Nowa kicked her legs in a futile attempt to help her finish the exercise. Unfortunately for the brunette, she did just didn't have the strength to finish, and Nowa dropped to the soft grass below her, her arms burning with exhaustion.

Being the highly renowned instructor she was, Alleyne would have normally been critical of failure, but she found that lately, she didn't have the heart to criticize Nowa as openly as she used to. After all, it wasn't as if the girl wasn't trying. Nowa always tried her best when training. Her determination to get stronger drove Nowa to constantly improve wherever she could; there was really no need for Alleyne to berate the girl for trying her best.

"Ninety-eight points Nowa. You were much closer than last time, good job."

Despite being a little disappointed in her inability to reach her goal, Nowa was pleased to receive Alleyne's praise. She knew the blonde was a kind person underneath that stoic exterior, but when it came to training, Alleyne was usually very critical.

"Thanks Captain! Next time I'll make it for sure! By the way, it's been kind of quiet today... where'd Lucas go?"

Since she was the one constantly keeping tabs on the boy, Echidna tilted her head in the direction of the human village about a mile from the edge of the forest. "He went to visit the village early this morning. My guess is just that he needed to get away from us all for a little while; or at least away from me and Alleyne."

Nowa frowned, the idea of one of their number feeling so alienated not sitting well with her. But still, she knew that Lucas was the source of the problem himself. Echidna and Alleyne had nothing against him; it was the boy who was hostile to the two older women. Nowa couldn't imagine his bitterness being without reason, so there had to be some sort of story behind it...

"Miss Echidna? If you don't mind me asking... why does Lucas hate you so much? Weren't you his teacher?"

While this question would have normally irritated the Veteran Mercenary, Echidna couldn't really be mad at the girl for posing such a question. After all, Nowa was a part of this group, and she deserved to at least know the basics of Echidna's dynamic with Lucas. It wasn't like Nowa meant any harm.

"It's precisely because I was his teacher that he hates me so much. You already know that was orphaned right after birth, and that Alleyne refused to take him as a pupil, so I took some amount of pity on the kid and decided that I would teach him how to survive. It went rather well, and he learned rather quickly, but I realized too late that Lucas needed me to be more than a teacher. As time wore on he looked at me as more of an older sister than anything else, and that wasn't good for either of us... so I left. As soon as I knew he could take care of himself, I disappeared. I didn't want him to get involved with someone like me as deeply as he wanted to."

Having been abandoned herself as a child, Nowa could understand why Lucas was so angry, but she also understood Echidna's reasoning, though to a lesser extent. Alleyne had told Nowa once many years ago that Echidna did not think of herself as a good role model; never had the green-haired elf considered herself worthy of the admiration she widely received. In short, Echidna did not think she was a good person. She accepted that fact, and had no problem accepting herself, but nevertheless, she did not want others to be like her. According to Alleyne, this was why Echidna lived the solitary lifestyle she did; she didn't want to be the influence that would bring others down the same immoral path she was on, even if she had no desire to change herself.

Still, if someone like Echidna hated being so near to those who would look up to her, such as Nowa and Lucas, then why was she here? This was another question Nowa couldn't help but ask. "Um... I know I might be coming across as a little nosy, but... why are you travelling with us Miss Echidna? I thought you didn't like company?"

The questioned elf sighed, though she managed a slight smile of amusement regardless. Nowa was a bit more perceptive than Echidna would have liked. "Well, someone has to keep an eye on Lucas, right? He's kind of my responsibility, all things considered, so I have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. That's all."

Nowa seemed a little suspicious of this answer, but did nothing to question it. Besides, if she were going to say anything else at all, Alleyne cut her off before she could. "Nowa, could you go and retrieve Lucas from the village? We still have a long way to go before we reach the capital, and I'd rather not dawdle here for longer than necessary."

With a lighthearted salute, Nowa jumped to her feet and called for Ru, who was hanging out in the trees above the trio of elves. Not one to drag her feet when fulfilling a request for Alleyne, the warrior-in-training was off in no time, leaving the two older elves alone.

As soon as Nowa was out of sight, Alleyne turned her deep blue gaze on Echidna's relaxing form, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "You're quite cruel Echidna, lying to such a young girl. Have you no shame?"

Echidna shrugged, not terribly affected by Alleyne's words. "Well, I wasn't being completely deceitful. I would feel somewhat guilty if Lucas did something stupid..."

"But that is hardly your main reason, is it?"

As Alleyne questioned Echidna further, she noticed that the woman was growing slightly uncomfortable. Honestly, Alleyne already knew why Echidna was hanging around; she just wanted the crimson-eyed elf to admit it, to herself if no one else.

If Echidna knew that Alleyne was onto her, she didn't show it. She was just as quick to come up with another excuse rather than the truth, though her next words were not entirely false. "Well if you're so curious, I'm also pretty interested in watching Nowa. I'm sure you know as well as I do that she has great potential. I kind of want to watch her grow into the amazing warrior I know she'll be."

While Alleyne knew that Echidna's real reason for being here was something different, she could sense that the Calibara elf was telling the truth. They both wanted to see Nowa grow as a fighter; Alleyne herself knew that her apprentice had the potential to reach beyond even her own caliber, and in a much shorter time-frame. At her current rate, Nowa would surpass Alleyne long before she was as old as her instructor.

Still, truth aside, Alleyne still wanted Echidna to be honest with herself. "Come now Echidna, surely you don't think I'm so easy to fool? I've known you since you were a child."

Echidna glared at the blonde elf, not happy to be reminded of her childhood. As much as she hated to admit it, Echidna would always be a child compared to Alleyne; many people failed to realize that Alleyne was twice Echidna's age. By the time Echidna was born, Alleyne was already over five hundred years old. Whether or not they were both adults now, the Elven Combat Master would always see Echidna as that young troublemaker she had clashed with all those centuries ago.

This time refusing to answer Alleyne's question, Echidna hopped down from her perch. "I'm going to go and find some water for the next part of our trip. I'll be back soon."

Amused by her reaction, Alleyne couldn't help but smirk to herself as she watched Echidna disappear into the woods, escaping from Alleyne in her own subtle way of sulking.

_No matter how old you get Echidna, in some ways you're still that child from those days back then... how hard can it be to admit that you're lonely?_

* * *

><p>While Ymir was the kind of person who tended to over-exaggerate about almost everything, Church was glad to say that she had been telling the truth when she praised Cattleya's baked potatoes.<p>

Having returned from their foray into the mine, Church had been quick to relay the abridged version of what had happened there to Cattleya, before Ymir could spin some fantastical tale about the incident. Once the mother had finished scolding Ymir for putting him and Nanael in harm's way, she had made dinner for everyone, and they had all quickly seated themselves to eat, since they were hungry after a rough day.

Cattleya's modest table wasn't suited for more than four people, but by borrowing a few chairs from elsewhere in her house, and everyone squeezing together just a little, there was enough room to accommodate all six people. Besides, with Nanael on one side of him and Hachiel on the other, Church certainly didn't mind being a little squished between them.

Next to Hachiel was Ymir, who was talking animatedly about her exploits in the mine that day. The expressive dwarf wasn't even really talking to anyone in particular; she was just talking aloud, and everyone had no choice but to listen. Church didn't really mind that either though. He liked listening to Ymir; she made even the most bland events seem amazing and adventurous. Hearing her spin on the debacle in the mine was fun, and he couldn't help but think that Ymir had the makings of a great storyteller.

Next to the diminutive blonde was Rana, with his mother on the other side of him, which completed the circle, as Nanael was on the other side of her. Currently, Ymir was taking up all the room for conversation, so everyone else simply enjoyed Cattleya's homemade cooking. Besides the potatoes, she had apparently had some ham ready from a market day earlier, and this part of the meal was delicious as well.

"You should have seen it Cattleya. When I came through that ceiling to save them, Church and Nanael were surrounded by hundreds of Kobolds. They were holding their own pretty well, but if I hadn't shown up when I did, those two would have been in real trouble."

Church and Nanael exchanged amused glances with each other, neither of them willing to interrupt Ymir's story to correct her numbers. Besides, it wasn't as if Cattleya was taking anything Ymir said at face value, and Hachiel had been there herself, so she knew the truth. Only Rana was enraptured with Ymir's exaggerated tale.

"Anyway, when I showed up, even though there were thousands of them, those Kobolds scattered in fear-"

It was at this point that Cattleya cut in with a cocked eyebrow. "I thought you said there were hundreds? I didn't know Kobolds could multiply."

"Hey, I'm the one telling the story here. I think I would know how many enemies there were!"

Hachiel, despite the fact that she had befriended Ymir, couldn't resist taking the side of truth. "But Ymir, no matter how many there were, all of the Kobolds ran way before you could fight them..."

Ymir shook her fist at the pinkette. "Yeah, but they only ran away because I showed up! Isn't that obvious?"

As the other occupants of the table discussed the merit of Ymir's story, Church turned to face Nanael when she tugged on his sleeve. "Something wrong?"

Although she smiled at him, Church could detect some small amount of discomfort on Nanael's face. "It's nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back in a minute."

Confusion etched on his face, Church watched Nanael rise from the table, careful to avoid buffeting anything or anyone with her folded wings. She left the room quietly, heading towards the front of the house as discreetly as possible; she didn't want to bother anyone at the table.

Still, it was nearly impossible to ignore an angel, so no one missed her exit, and Hachiel was quick to question Church after her friend was out of earshot. "Church, is something wrong? Is Nanael feeling alright?"

While Church shared her look of concern, he tried to sound as though nothing were amiss. "She said everything was fine. She'll be back in a minute."

"Church, just because she says everything is fine..."

"I know, I know... I'll check on her if she's gone for too long. I can at least give her a few minutes; I don't want Nanael to think I don't trust her to take care of herself. The last thing she needs to think is that I see her as some sort of pitiable little girl."

Hachiel looked like she wanted to go and check on her friend immediately, but she did understand Church's point. True, Nanael needed support from her friends, but she didn't need them hovering over her shoulder like hawks. She could take care of herself, and she didn't need babysitters to make sure she didn't hurt herself.

Still, when Nanael's absence stretched on for longer than she had promised, and Hachiel's glances at Church grew ever more nervous, he finally decided to check on the wayward angel. He doubted anything had befallen Nanael, by coincidence or her own hand, but it couldn't hurt to be sure. Rising from the table, Church excused himself, promising that he would return briefly.

Fortunately for him, Cattleya's house was of rather simple design, and even though he was unfamiliar with it, Church had no problem finding his way outside, where he assumed Nanael was. He tried to be as quiet as possible; after all, if he found that Nanael simply needed time to herself, he would leave her alone without ever letting the girl know he was even there.

As expected, Church did indeed find Nanael outside of Cattleya's house, but she didn't appear to be bothered by anything. She was simply standing, back to the house, and looking out over the town. Her wings were folded, but even so, Church noticed that her defective one seemed a little crooked. Something about the angle of its usual gentle curve was off.

Regardless, it looked like Nanael was fine, and Church decided to leave her be. But before he could quietly return inside, Church saw Nanael begin to spread her wings, and he couldn't help but be enraptured by the sight of her beautiful feathers as they splayed out over Nanael's back.

However, as her wings were about to reach their maximum span, Church saw Nanael's smaller wing flinch spasmodically. Putting her hand to her mouth to muffle a cry of pain, Nanael was on her knees in an instant, her free hand clutching at the base of the affected wing.

Despite the fact that Church was supposed to be trusting Nanael to her own devices, the sight of her in obvious agony trumped any wish for him to do so. He wasted no time in rushing to her side. "Nanael! What's wrong?!"

Hearing his unexpected voice, as well as his hands on her shoulders, Nanael turned her grimacing countenance on Church. Her expression was more because of the pain she was feeling than Church's presence, but either way Nanael wasn't happy that Church had come to check on her. She didn't want anyone to know about this. "Church... why did you come out here?"

"Forget that, what happened?! And don't tell me that it's nothing, I can see how much you're hurting."

Nanael sighed. It wasn't that she didn't trust Church; she had decided _to _trust him after all, but she was afraid he would overreact to her problem. Still, Nanael knew that Church would never be satisfied unless she gave him an answer.

"My wing is broken."

"What?! Since when?!"

Nanael frowned at him. "Church, please stop yelling. I don't want the others to know about this... and I think I broke it when we fell in the mine earlier today."

Realizing that he was probably freaking out a little too much, Church followed Nanael's wishes and lowered his voice. "But you didn't seem to be bothered by it at all then. Didn't you feel it before?"

"I kept my wings folded while we were in the mine, so it didn't hurt too much. I didn't really notice that it was this bad until we got outside earlier today."

"Why didn't you say anything? Nanael, if it hurts so bad that it causes you to collapse like you just did, we have to do something!"

Trying to portray an image of health, Nanael got back to her feet. "It's fine. I just won't fly on it until it heals."

Church scowled as he followed Nanael's movements and got to his feet as well. Why were women always so difficult? "That's not the way healing a broken bone works, Nanael. Er... actually, does your wing have any bones in it?"

Nanael nodded, pointing to the top part of her left wing, where all of her feathers originated and grew from. "There's one bone in each wing that supports the weight of the feathers and provides the structure needed for flight. That's what I broke."

"But...how? Nothing seemed to hurt you today. The way you were talking, angels are nearly invincible. How could a fall do something like this to you?"

"Well, my right wing is smaller because the bone is smaller. It's thinner than the left, so it's already easier to break. As for how I managed to get hurt at all through the divine protection all angels are supposed to have... there are several reasons why that shield could have been weakened."

Church couldn't help but notice the hesitation in Nanael's voice. "What do you mean? What kind of reasons?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing we can change anyway. And I don't want you telling anyone about this, alright?"

"Why not? What's the point in pretending that you aren't injured?"

Nanael sighed. "Look, the only person who could heal this injury is Hachiel. But I've been a huge burden to her lately, and right now she's enjoying herself. I'd rather not bother her with something like this right now."

Church resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the angel before him. Whatever her intentions were, her reasoning here was seriously flawed. "Nanael, Hachiel is your friend; I guarantee you she would rather help you than enjoy herself. Besides, this is something serious. Your wings are a vital part of your body..."

At the mention of it, Church could see Nanael's expression turn sour, a condescending smirk on her face. "What does it matter really? This wing is totally useless anyway..."

Before Church could make some sort of reply, the loud voice of Ymir shouted at the duo from Cattleya's doorway. Even at night, her tone of voice remained on its usual level. "Hey! What are you two doing out here? It's been over five minutes!"

Nanael refused to say anything, but Church likewise refused to stay quiet. He wasn't going to let something like this slide. Still, he didn't want to outright anger someone that could paste him against a wall, so Church discreetly pointed a finger at Nanael's broken wing. Half outstretched as they were, anyone could tell there was something wrong with the right wing, besides being smaller than usual.

Ymir's eyes widened as she saw what Church was pointing at; apparently it looked worse than even Church had thought. The only way the shattered bone would be hidden would be if Nanael folded her wings... like she had been all day.

Deciding with certainty that this was going to be fixed tonight, Church tried to make some gestures towards Ymir that would get her to call Hachiel outside. He made sure to hide these motions from Nanael behind his torso.

With a knowing smile, Ymir raised her voice even higher than usual. "Oh wow, that looks painful! I had no idea your wing was broken! How are you going to-!"

Before the diminutive blonde could even finish, she was shoved out of the doorway by Hachiel. It was by far the most impolite thing Church had ever seen the pinkette do. "Nanael, your wing is broken?!"

Knowing at this point that it was futile to resist further, Nanael turned to face her closest friend. "Yes Hachi, it is..."

"Oh my God, why didn't you tell me?! How long were you planning on hiding this!? Are you insane?!"

It briefly occurred to Church that Hachiel had just used God's name in vain, something that couldn't have possibly been more out of character for her, but the thought was quickly lost as he paid attention to Nanael's retort. "Because, I knew you would have a panic attack, like you are right now!"

"Of course I'm having a panic attack! You know what could happen if you don't care for a broken wing immediately! Have you forgotten what happened to Pasariel!?"

"Pasariel lost her wing fighting a powerful demon hundreds of years ago! You can't compare a fall to that!"

Hachiel put her hands on her hips. "The point still stands! If an angel's wing gets crushed and it isn't tended to within twenty-four hours, the damage is almost guaranteed to be permanent! So come with me right now so we can fix this!"

Even though she knew it was pointless, Nanael tried to resist Hachiel at least a little. "Hachi, it's not such a big deal-"

Hachiel's pink-hued wings flared irritably. It looked as if her golden eyes were about to burn a hole through Nanael's head. "Nanael, if you don't come with me right...now..."

Feeling a level of killer intent no one would have ever expected from a girl as sweet as Hachiel, Nanael immediately decided that she had nothing more to say, instead hanging her head as she grudgingly followed Hachiel back into Cattleya's house. Church followed behind a few moments later, giving Ymir a high-five as he passed her.

After asking Cattleya if she could borrow a room for the situation at hand, Hachiel led Nanael upstairs, ignoring the blue-haired angel's complaints as they went. This left Church and Ymir downstairs with their hostess and her son, though at this point they were both done with their dinner. Since they had both left early to go check on others, albeit at different times, Church and Ymir still had some food left.

Cattleya invited the two of them to return to what was left of their meal, gathering the dishes that had already been used. "Rana, would you mind helping me with the dishes? Let's leave Ymir and Church alone."

"OK Mom! I'm coming!"

Indeed left alone now, Church awkwardly returned to his food, not sure what to say now that he was alone with Ymir. He had talked to her at decent length already, but he didn't really know her beyond the level of an acquaintance...

But apparently Ymir did not have the same misgivings about him. As she worked on finishing the last of her meal, she had no issue trying to start a conversation. "Hey, are you just going to sit there, or are you going to talk to me?"

"W-well... I just don't know what to talk about..."

"Hmm... tell me what kind of weapon you want."

"W-what?"

Ymir cocked an eyebrow at him. "You know, the weapon I promised you. What kind do you want?"

For some reason, Church felt uncomfortable talking about this. He still felt like he hadn't managed to uphold his end of the deal. "Look Ymir, I really don't think you need to keep that deal. I mean, I didn't really do much..."

The girl across from him smiled. "You're one of those guys, huh?"

Church gave Ymir a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, one of those guys who never gives themselves enough credit. Never thinks they deserve anything? You're definitely one of those guys, I can tell."

Church frowned at the dwarf. Surely he wasn't really like that. "I'm not one of "those guys" Ymir. I just don't think I held up my end of the bargain. I mean, in the end, you had to come rescue me. That already means I was more of a burden than a help."

Seeing that she was only going to be refuted, Ymir decided to take a different approach. "Well, what if I just want to do this because I like you?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"You're a nice guy. You're sweet and helpful and obviously a good person. Maybe I just want to do you a favor?"

Ymir tried to make the cutest face she could while saying this, hoping to convince Church that accepting something as simple as a reward wasn't wrong.

It was apparently effective, because Church blushed as he tried to think of a reason to refute Ymir's suggestion, though he could find none. She _was _cute, and she was trying to be nice to him; why on earth was he still resisting?

"Alright, I get it... it's stupid to resist at this point."

"It was stupid to resist in the first place."

Church was about to make a retort, but Ymir pressed on before he could, rising to her feet with gusto and slamming her palms down on Cattleya's table. Thankfully, she wasn't still wearing Steam Tyranny. "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

Church watched the rambunctious girl essentially storm out of the dining room. "What, right now? It's like, ten o'clock!"

"Of course right now! There's no such thing as a bad time to talk about the art of weaponry!"

The only remaining person in the dining room sighed, though a smile still came to his face. That girl really was a piece of work.

* * *

><p>"Hmm... I wonder where Lucas could've gone?"<p>

Nowa stood in the middle of the street in the human settlement that Lucas had disappeared to. She completely ignored the confused stares of the people around her, as well as the blatant ogling of some of the more lecherous men; as she grew taller, Nowa's skirt was getting just a little too short to completely cover her cute butt. But if she noticed anyone directing their stares down there, Nowa chose to ignore it.

Moving down the humble streets of the town, the young half-elf had no luck in finding her wayward friend. Having no success on the main streets, she decided to scour the alleys as well; while she would never say it to his face, Nowa thought Lucas was the type of person who resided in dark corners. Something about his bitter and aloof persona made such places fit Lucas better than they should have.

Still, ten minutes of searching through those did not yield any results either; or at least not positive ones. Nowa had noticed that a group of less than desirable looking individuals had been following her for quite some time, but had chosen to be an optimist and hope that they would leave. But when she was finally cornered by a group of thugs, led by a woman no less, even Nowa knew that there was no way things were going to end peacefully.

She was now trapped in a narrow alley with burly, disgusting looking men blocking both exits. The curly, short-haired woman who was apparently their leader stood behind Nowa, with hands on her hips. She had a nasty look about her, her bright orange hair contrasting sharply with the black latex of a slaver that stretched over her body.

"What do we have here? A young elven girl with a cute face and a tight body. This might possibly be our best catch all week, boys."

This comment earned a chorus of laughter from the men in the alley, who clearly worked for this woman with the sneering expression. Most of the men seemed to be little more than dumb brutes, but the way their leader's eyes roamed over Nowa's body made the girl incredibly uncomfortable. She felt like an item under that woman's gaze, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Look, I don't want to hurt anyone, but I'm not going to let you guys take me. I'm a free person, not a piece of meat. You can't just do what you want with me."

Nowa's defiance earned a haughty laugh from the female leader of the group. "Well, aren't you a spunky one? I know you're young, but I didn't think you'd be so naive. The strong have the power to dictate what happens to the weak. That's the way everything works in these lands. We're stronger than you, so we can do what we want with you."

If there was one thing Nowa really hated, it was when someone dismissed her strength so readily. She was stronger than people gave her credit for, and she hated not getting that credit. "You aren't stronger than me. If you're really going to fight me, you're going to lose."

"You're a cocky little bitch, aren't you? Well, if you want to resist, be my guest. No one will mind if you're bruised as long as you're usable."

The implications of being "usable" caused Nowa's skin to crawl. She wasn't clueless; she knew what she would be used for if she were defeated here. Still, even against people as deplorable as the ones who faced her, Nowa had no desire to hurt anyone. If it came to fighting or fleeing, she would take her chance to escape.

As the first of the thugs surrounding her moved forward, Nowa leaped into the air, using her legs and her one free arm to scamper up the walls of the narrow alleyway. Had she been slow, everyone now beneath her would have caught a glimpse of something they most certainly shouldn't have, but fortunately, Nowa's agility allowed her to escape exposure.

She was on the rooftops in no time, and Nowa looked back down at the slavers below her. "So... what are you going to do now? I don't think any of you can get up here."

The only answer Nowa received was a rock thrown at her from below, which she effortlessly dodged by stepping to the side. "Well that's not very nice..."

The leader of the thugs clenched her fists in anger. "Don't you dare make a fool out of me you little brat! You can't stay up there forever!"

Nowa shrugged as she took a running leap onto a rooftop across the street; she was used to leaping great distances in the forest, so a small jump like that was of no consequence to her, though it amazed the thugs still on the streets. "T-that was like... fifteen feet! How on earth did she...?"

Waving back at the stunned group, Nowa casually darted away. It amazed her how the things that were easy and normal to her still managed to completely stun humans. From what Alleyne had told her, Nowa knew that elves were usually physically superior to humans; some part of their biological development had just made them faster and stronger than their round-eared counterparts.

So to humans, and average ones at that, a leap of over a dozen feet must have seemed impressive. Nowa herself had conquered distances well over that while in the forest; the furthest jump she had ever made during training was an astounding forty-two feet, so something as measly as fifteen did not seem like much of an accomplishment. Then again, Nowa had already gathered a lot of momentum before taking that jump, and even then she crashed into the branch she was aiming for chest first, but she had still made it, and that was what mattered. Even Alleyne had been visibly impressed with the feat, considering the fact that the blonde could not achieve the same herself.

Nowa briefly wondered if Echidna could jump as far as she could, but didn't have time to dwell on it. Halfway through another jump, she felt something soft land on her shoulder, and she turned to see that Ru had finally returned from his own search. The two of them had split up when first entering the town.

"Oh, Ru! Did you find Lucas?"

The little pink monkey nodded vigorously, leaping off of Nowa's shoulder to lead her to the place he had spotted their wayward companion. Because they were taking such a "crowd-free" route, the duo reached their destination in no time; but Nowa immediately frowned in disappointment as she looked up at the building Ru had taken her to.

"A bar...? Really Lucas, is this what you've been doing this whole time?"

She glanced at Ru to see if this really was the place, but could only sigh when the monkey nodded once again, and returned to her shoulder. Instead of barging right in, the young half-elf pushed the door to the establishment open just enough to peek inside; she wasn't completely sure of what kind of cultural norms existed in human towns, but she did know that by human standards, she was quite under-dressed. And if there was one place an under-dressed young girl was going to be harassed, it was a bar.

She wasn't scared of being bothered in itself, as she knew she could defeat a drunkard if she had to, but Nowa was eager to avoid making a scene altogether. Unfortunately, she was unable to spot Lucas anywhere from her position at the doorway, and it seemed like she would have no choice but to go inside the crowded establishment.

Entering the building as inconspicuously as possible, Nowa used the hand that wasn't holding her staff to tug down the back of her skirt; she had been fine out in the streets, but in these close quarters, and surrounded by people who were probably under the influence of alcohol, she felt a lot more conscious of her body. Just a few months ago, this situation would never have bothered her, but now, Nowa thought of herself in a more feminine light than she used to. This probably had something to do with the fact that she was mildly infatuated by someone absent from her life right now, but nevertheless, it made Nowa more self-conscious.

Fortunately for her, drunken men and women weren't the most aware of individuals, so Nowa managed to investigate the bar without incident. Even her glaring orange outfit, scant as it was, did not attract anyone's attention, as far as she could tell. This meant that she managed to find Lucas without trouble; though trouble certainly seemed to have found him.

Lucas, with the red blush of alcohol prominent on his cheeks, had one foot planted on a table as he argued with a spiky-haired redhead who looked equally drunk. It was more difficult to see the drunken blush of her cheeks on her tan skin, but it was obvious that the violet-eyed woman was under the influence as well, and pretty mad too. "You little twerp! You made me spill my drink!"

Lucas shook a fist back at the redhead. "Yeah, so what?! What're you gonna do about it?!"

"Beat your face in, how about that!?"

"Go ahead and try it, I'll crush you!"

Nowa was about to try and call out to Lucas in an effort to get his attention and calm him down, but someone else with the same idea spoke up before she could.

"Risty, please calm down! We really shouldn't make a scene here!"

Recognizing the gentle voice of someone she had encountered once before, Nowa scanned the rambunctious crowd for the Vance heiress she knew was here. It did not take long to spot her; Leina's stark blonde hair was difficult to miss, and she had quite a noticeable presence besides, even if one did not take her appearance into account.

Ecstatic to meet the woman she had befriended all those months ago once again, Nowa pushed through the people around her to reach the aspiring warrior. "Leina!"

Hearing her name called by someone who was initially unfamiliar scared Leina a little bit, since she was always paranoid about being dragged back home, but as she turned to face the source, a bright smile lit up her face. "Nowa? What are you doing here?"

Nowa planted both hands on the table Leina was sitting at, a huge smile plastered on her face. "Y'know, this and that. Right now I'm looking for a friend of mine, who's uh... right there arguing with your friend..."

Leina cocked an eyebrow at Lucas, who was about to come to blows with Risty. "That's your friend? He... doesn't seem like the kind of person you would get along with..."

Nowa sighed. "Yeah... but I think he needs some more friends these days, so here I am. He's not the one who started this, is he?"

Now it was Leina's turn to sigh. "As much as I'd like to defend Risty, this is kind of her fault. Your friend bumped into her and spilled her drink, and he _did _try to apologize at first, but Risty was already past the point of rationality. At this point it looks like their's going to be a fight."

Looking to the two people in disagreement, Nowa was about to try and intervene, when a sudden and very unwelcome touch from behind interrupted her efforts. Apparently, some stranger behind her thought he could cop a feel from her ass, thinking that he could disappear into the crowd soon enough to escape retribution. Unfortunately for him, Nowa's reflexes were far quicker than he had expected, and his lecherous grin rapidly shifted to a grimace as the half-elf girl he had groped spun on her heel, a mix of embarrassment and indignation on her face.

"D-don't touch me there!"

Before he had any time to react, the man with the poor decision making skills was smacked across the face with Nowa's staff, sending him stumbling into another group of men, and unfortunately spilling more beer.

"Hey! Do you know how much I paid for this!?"

"Yeah, this stuff ain't cheap you know!"

Leina resisted the urge to correct the men, since the beer here _was _really cheap, mostly because it looked like Nowa may have just started a bar fight. "C'mon you guys, she didn't mean to do that. If you want to be angry at anyone, it should be the guy who-"

"Let's get her!"

"Yeah!"

For some reason, men and women who hadn't even been affected by the event were now closing in on Nowa and the blonde next to her. Apparently, spilling beer was just such a travesty that every drunk person in here had to avenge the poor beverage.

At this point the situation had developed quite nicely, and even Risty and Lucas managed to put their minor dispute aside, stepping off of the table they had been arguing on. Risty threw an arm around Leina's neck. "Hey! Are you guys... y'know, picking on the Princess here? You mess with her, and ya mess with me, a'right?"

Lucas stumbled down next to Nowa, pointing a wavering finger at the crows before him. "Yeah, who do you think you are, pickin' on my girlfriend? I mean, not my girlfriend girlfriend, but you know, my friend. Who's a girl... yeah, that's right. You gotta fight me first!"

Nowa tried to placate both sides of the bar turned battlefield, but no one was able to hear her light voice over the uproar of the crowd. It wasn't until the owner of the establishment yelled out over the crowd that it fell silent. "Hey! If you're all going to fight, could you please take it outside of my bar? It is quite literally the only thing I own."

Surprisingly, everyone was alright with taking the fight outside. It was more reasonable than Nowa had expected the crowd to be. Only one man from the back of the crowd felt the need to make a retort.

"Fine, but when we're done, I'm trashing the joint for funsies!"

Everyone ignored that man, and soon enough the entire establishment was emptied of patrons as they all moved into the street. Once they were there, Nowa, Leina, Risty, and Lucas were left facing off against everyone else, a good three dozen brawlers.

Risty cracked her knuckles, seemingly eager to fight, which earned a sigh from her blond companion, who knew she would have to fight with her fists as well if she wanted to avoid killing anyone. Lucas was a little too wasted to even consider using his breakers, so that left only Nowa as an armed combatant. True, her weapon was non-lethal, but she still had the biggest advantage.

Soon enough, a battle cry from the crowd of drinkers erupted into the night air.

"For the beer!"

"And the bitches!"

"Since when were we fighting for that?"

"Who cares, let's just fight 'em!"

"Yeah!"

Nowa sighed for the umpteenth time this night; she was glad Alleyne wasn't here to witness this folly.

* * *

><p>"I've been meaning to ask, Ymir; did you make all of these weapons yourself?"<p>

Church and Ymir stood in the smithy extension of Cattleya's house, which served as the storefront during the day. While there were no doors to close the area from the outside, there were several weapons lockers in the smithy, and Cattleya had allowed Ymir to keep her weapons in a few of them during the night, lest they be stolen. Ymir had opened all of them, to allow Church to see all of the options he had to choose from.

"Yep. I only sell my own works. I'm not the only talented smith in the Iron Mountain, and definitely not the best of the best, but I take pride in selling my own creations. It's just more gratifying to showcase your own hard work and effort."

Church eyed the multitude of weapons before him. Each had the same color scheme as Ymir's own battleaxe, for which he assumed was because of the ore that was used to make them. Each weapon was unique in its own way; even if there were three swords, each one had a peculiar curve to it, or a different type of cross guard, or even just a different pattern of decoration. This led Church to ask an unusual question.

"Ymir, do your weapons have names?"

The short blonde nodded, glad to see that her companion was taking such interest in her work. "Well, not _all _of them. I've made hundreds of weapons over the past couple of years, and even thousands throughout my entire life. I'd never be able to name all of them something meaningful. I only name the ones I'm really proud of."

"Like an artist."

Ymir cast a sideways glance at the man beside her. "Huh?

"You're like an artist. You pour your heart and soul into making these weapons, and name the creations that embody your effort the most. Each weapon you make is the product of your creativity, imagination, and skill. That sounds exactly like an artist to me."

Honestly, Ymir had never thought about it like that. She had always considered herself to be a skilled blacksmith, but an artist? That was a title she had never applied to herself, though she was pleased to accept it. "Yeah...yeah, I guess I am an artist. I create beautiful things, right?"

Church nodded. "Of course. And you know, a piece of art is only as beautiful as the artist makes it."

While she knew Church did not mean it in such a way, Ymir was still a little flustered at his words. "Y-yeah... I guess so..."

Church was a little too busy examining Ymir's works to notice the blush on her cheeks, and so continued to talk about the topic at hand. "So Ymir, does your axe have a name?"

With her attention drawn away from her embarrassment, Ymir was back to her usual outspoken self in no time at all. "Actually, yes. Its name is Armads; the same as the legendary axe used to fight dragons by my dwarven ancestors millenia ago. It's not the same weapon of course, but I want to find a way for my Armads to gain as much fame as the original. Though there aren't many dragons left to slay, so that may be difficult. But hey, you're supposed to be looking for a weapon for you, not asking about mine. Stop getting distracted!"

Put back on task by his petite companion, Church returned his attention to the open weapon lockers that contained Ymir's many creations. The array of weaponry was impressive, but this led Church to question their value. Were some of them more expensive than others? Bigger weapons took more metal, so did they cost more? He didn't know if Ymir only wanted him to choose from a certain range of value.

"Do you only want me to choose from certain ones? I mean, I'm sure you aren't selling all of these at the same price..."

Ymir crossed her arms. "What kind of cheapskate do you take me for? You can pick whatever you want. It's a gift, so I don't mind."

Church refrained from mentioning that this was technically supposed to be payment for services rendered, but only because he preferred the idea of receiving a gift from Ymir. He hadn't known her for more than a day, and technically speaking, he had only interacted with her for a few hours; but he was fond of Ymir already, and he would definitely consider her a friend. Receiving a gift from her had more meaning than payment for work.

The thought of meaning brought an idea to of what he wanted to Church's mind. "Ymir, is it alright if I have the sword you had me test earlier today?"

The questioned dwarf cocked an eyebrow at the man, surprised that he wanted that weapon over all the others, but nonetheless pleased that he was picking something associated with a memory she had shared with him. Of course, Ymir didn't know if that was the real reason Church wanted that blade, but she preferred to think so.

Carefully digging around the sharp and dangerous edges of her stored weapons, Ymir quickly withdrew the item Church had asked for: she never forgot where she placed one of her weapons.

"Here it is... believe it or not, this is another one of the weapons I actually named. This sword is called Grendel, named after a deadly beast from an old myth. As you can see, it's a short-sword, at least for a human like you... but it makes up for length with speed and flexibility. It's double-edged, and fit for stabbing attacks as well. Also, you probably didn't notice this when you swung it around earlier, but there's notches on one side of the blade to catch enemy weapons with."

Church eyed the red steel of the blade in Ymir's hand, fascinated by the thought of such a beautiful gold-trimmed blade also being so deadly. "So it's also a sword-breaker, huh? Amazing... but you said it was double-edged; won't that side of the blade have a harder time cutting through things?"

With a satisfied air about herself, Ymir explained why this wasn't true. "Well you're right in thinking that most sword-breakers have trouble performing on the catching side. Most sword-breakers are usually single-edged, because the catching side is made like the edge of a saw and can't cut through things easily. But Grendel's catching side is curved downward like a hook; so even though your blocking stance might need to be a little unorthodox to catch a blade, you can swing Grendel both ways and still be effective. And of course, since using a sword-breaker is dangerous work, the guard is wide enough to protect your whole hand."

"Incredible. I never would have thought of any of this while I was holding it earlier. Is it even stronger than your normal weapons, since it has to break the steel of other weapons?"

"That's right. The ore we dwarves use is already many times stronger than steel, but any time we make a weapon that needs to be extra-tough, we work in a cross-netting of high-strength tensile metal to its structure. Don't tell anyone about that though, it's supposed to be a secret."

Church found himself getting much more excited about this than he thought he would, but before he accepted the blade he had requested, he was struck with doubt once more. "Ymir, Grendel really does sound amazing, but are you sure you want me to take it? You _did _say that you only name the weapons you're really proud of..."

Ymir smiled at him. "The fact that this is one of the weapons I poured my heart into just makes me feel even better about giving it to you. You don't have to ask about that again; I want you to have it."

This brought a smile to Church's face as he finally conceded and reached out for Grendel's proffered handle. Once he had it in his own hands, Ymir dug around in the locker that contained her goods once more, soon emerging with a light brown sheath attached to a few leather straps. "This is the sheath for that blade; instead of being on the hip, you can adjust the position of the sheath itself to be on your back, or horizontal on your waist. Both of these positions allow you to draw the catching side of the blade very quickly, just in case you get caught off guard. The straps are adjustable too, so don't worry about size."

Church readily accepted this from Ymir as well, glad that she was so eager to provide for him. "Thank you, Ymir. It means a lot to me that you're willing to part with these for my sake."

"Well, you deserve something for all the trouble I put you through... speaking of which, I wonder what I'm gong to make out of that ore you found..."

"You mean you don't know?"

Ymir shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I try to make something new and unique every time I create a weapon, but I've been running low on ideas for awhile, so I don't know what I'll make out of the ore from that mine."

A few fantastical weapons flashed through Church's mind, mostly from games he had played before NOVA ruined the world as he knew it, but one stood out in particular. "You know Ymir, where I'm from, there's this one really amazing weapon that can change into another type when you want it to."

This mention of a transforming weapon really caught Ymir's attention. "What do you mean? An actual metal weapon that can transform into another?"

"Well, it's mechanical, you see. It's like... at first it's a bow, but if you pull on a certain trigger it will collapse and fold in on itself to make a sword, or vice-versa."

"Really!? That's amazing! I know you aren't a blacksmith yourself, but... c-can you show me what it looks like?"

Church looked around the open smithy. "Um... how? I don't have anything to draw on..."

Ymir rushed past him to head back into the house. "Wait here, I'll go get something for you to use! I'll be back in just a second!"

For someone so short, Ymir was surprisingly fast when she wanted to be, and Church was left alone in a matter of seconds, somewhat cursing his casual remark about a weapon that was purely fictional. He had no doubt that if anyone could make a weapon like he had described, it was Ymir, but what Church didn't have confidence in was his ability to draw the thing; the last time he had taken an art class was sixth grade.

* * *

><p>Nowa watched with mild interest as Risty repeatedly punched a drunken man in the head, the poor sod unable to escape the woman's headlock. The brawl that had started but a few minutes ago was already over, considering the fact that the drunken crowd had been facing four trained fighters. True, Risty and Lucas were drunk as well, but even so they were tougher than a wasted civilian. In fact, Leina had commented that Risty was almost a better fighter than usual when drunk.<p>

Lucas on the other hand, was not, and he had been punched in the face a few times, but he had passed out after the fight from the alcohol, not the hits.

Nowa and Leina now stood off to the side of the scene, eyeing the unconscious crowd of drinkers around them, with the exception of the one still being attacked by Risty. Both individuals had been careful to avoid hurting their opponents too badly, being the gentle souls they were, but still, neither girl could say they didn't have any fun at all. They were fighters, after all, and fighting was something they enjoyed.

Now that it was all over, Leina turned to Nowa once again. "So, you never did tell me what you were doing way out here, Nowa. Who's guarding the forest if you aren't?"

Nowa nervously scratched the back of her head. "Well... I'm uh... not exactly welcome there anymore..."

"What?! They kicked you out!? H-how could they do something that terrible?!"

Nowa waved her arms in front of her. "It's OK Leina, it's not like it's just me; the Captain was exiled too."

"What?! Her too!?"

In hindsight, Nowa should have known that wouldn't comfort the blonde. She had no idea why she had said it. "D-don't worry! We're alright with it! We were exiled fighting for something... _someone... _we really cared about. So it's fine! One day we'll go back and fix what's wrong with our home, but for now... for now I have to grow as a person, with Alleyne helping me reach new heights. When I'm strong enough, I'll definitely go back to the forest. Just wait and see."

Leina couldn't help but smile, even though she didn't fully understand what Nowa was talking about. She also noticed that Nowa had used Alleyne's name, which was a rarity for the girl. Leina could tell already that the half-elf had grown considerably since she had last seen her. "So... this is just a guess, but I'm assuming that you're going to participate in the Queen's Blade?"

Nowa nodded. "That's right. I don't want to be Queen or anything, but I want the experience I'll get from fighting strong opponents, including you!"

"I'm looking forward to it as well, Nowa. I know we'll face each other in the tournament-"

"Yeah, take that! You can't beat me, I'm the greatest fighter ever!"

Nowa and Leina looked over at Risty, who was now swinging her fists wildly at thin air, which earned a deep sigh from the Vance heiress. "Why don't we rescue our friends before we continue this conversation?"

With a sigh of her own, Nowa nodded as she moved towards Lucas' unconscious form. "That sounds like a pretty good idea."

* * *

><p><strong>There we go. That's all said and done, and I have only a few comments to make here.<strong>

**First off, I never liked how often Ymir's weapons were defeated in the anime itself. I feel like her weapons should be more sturdy compared to humans, though not invincible. So that's happening.**

**Second, I realized that Airi would be the sexiest lover ever. Because you know, she can change her outfit to anything she can imagine in an instant; just imagine the possibilities.**

**Second to last, I was wondering how you guys would feel about a spin-off fic from this that's just a collection of humorous short stories? I've had some funny ideas, and although they would be short, I think they'd be fun for those of you who follow CoF.**

**And finally, whoever can spot the reference I made to a certain popular web-series gets a basket of internet cookies.**


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